Today a House panel approved a measure allowing prosecutors to pursue life without parole instead of the death penalty. Current law requires prosecutors to start out seeking the death penalty before a jury can hand down life without parole as an alternative. The measure has already cleared the Senate and could head for a vote in the full House next week. A House measure that would allow judges to consider a death sentence even if two jurors vote against it could come up for a vote in the Senate by next week.
