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Kansas Supreme Court leaves capital punishment supporters wrestling with response In their desire to see the state's worst killers executed, prosecutors and legislators face a complicated puzzle because of a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state's death penalty law. They hope the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the Kansas court and reinstate death sentences for a handful of convicted murderers. Of course, there is no guarantee that will happen. Otherwise, the longer legislators wait to rewrite the 1994 law, the longer Kansas remains without a valid death penalty - while new crimes occur. But some prosecutors fear action this year by the Legislature will lessen the chances of success with the U.S. Supreme Court. There's no dilemma for opponents of capital punishment, who believe public safety is protected adequately by the alternative sentence of life in prison. However, a majority of legislators appear to support the death penalty. In December, a 4-3 majority of the Kansas court invalidated the death penalty law over a provision on how juries weigh evidence for and against imposing a death sentence. The law says that if the evidence is about equal, a jury must choose death. The court's majority said that provision represented cruel and unusual punishment and violated defendants' rights to due legal process. A tie, they said, must be resolved in the defendant's favor. The decision, if it stands, removes six men from death row. [more]