The Nation : Filibuster on Death Penalty Bill Ends

The Senate voted 69 to 27 to choke off a filibuster that has blocked action on a bill permitting the death penalty for major drug dealers who kill police officers. The decision sets up a vote on the bill today that supporters and opponents agreed probably would result in approval. “This sends the message that we’re not going to tolerate the kind of warfare we’re seeing on the streets of our cities,” Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.), chief author of the bill, told his colleagues. But opponents such as Sen. Daniel J. Evans (R-Wash.) derided the measure as an election-year attempt to appease public demands to do something about illegal drugs. They also noted the death penalty already exists in many states and it hasn’t deterred drug pushers.