Bob Barr: “Matthew Shepard a 21-year-old student in Wyoming is dead, brutally murdered by those who for one reason or another did…”

“Matthew Shepard a 21-year-old student in Wyoming is dead, brutally murdered by those who for one reason or another did not like him. The perpetrators need to be punished swiftly, thoroughly and appropriately, namely, the death penalty. Wyoming is trying to do its job. Let us here in the Congress let Wyoming do its job. Wyoming provides for the death penalty in cases such as this. Yet there are those who are clamoring for Federal legislation to "increase penalties for such crimes." One really wonders what would be an increased penalty over the death penalty. I would be interested to see. It may very well violate the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. Let us not rush to judgment and pass vastly expansive Federal legislation such as that which came before the Subcommittee on Crime earlier this year which included terms which would provide the basis for Federal jurisdiction which were nowhere defined in Federal law. Passing legislation as a knee jerk reaction to an awful incident is not the best way to govern. We need to resist the urge, let Wyoming and the other States do their jobs.”