Ben Terry is asking state lawmakers to give inmates sentenced to life without parole like himself a choice — offer some chance for release or allow them to die.

Dubbed the "Killing Time" bill, the legislation proposed by inmates Terry and Juane Kennel would put the ability to choose death as an alternative to incarceration in the hands of some Missouri prisoners. While Terry says the proposal likely does not have much of a chance, it raises a number of issues concerning the death penalty and what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

"I don't think it has much of a chance due to the nature of certain parts of the bill. We are hoping it finally raises the conscious of the public that this is an issue that we ultimately have to address," Terry said Friday in a telephone interview. "If we are not good enough to let go, and we are not good enough to kill, then what are we good for?"

One of about 1,500 inmates in Missouri serving a life without parole sentence, Terry says there are many others who share his position on voluntary execution.

Terry has been serving his sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections since his 2006 conviction for first-degree murder. He killed a man in Henry County in 2005 in a dispute over Terry's vehicle being vandalized, according to court records. He says he is remorseful and that the bill is not a "poor me cry," adding that a voluntary execution would also offer victims' families justice.

"He is dead, and their (the victim’s) family's hurt is real," Terry said. "My family's hurt is real and my community was affected by it. There is nothing I can do to change that. I think anybody who spends enough time in prison,⁬ with the opportunity to stare at the wall like I have, can consider their life choices."

Terry said he polled about 32 fellow inmates with similar sentences in Jefferson City Correctional Center where he is incarcerated and said almost 75 percent of them share his position.

"Of those 32 people I talked to, 24 support the bill and their option to earn their release or at the very least earn their death," Terry said. "Eight of the guys were against that. Their general explanations were based on religious grounds, that the state would manipulate the opportunity and make life even less tenable for us, that the legislation would not protect them from being revoked without earnest cause. Some just believe that any hope of trying to affect a positive change in this system is a waste of time.”

None of those in favor of the bill truly want to die, Terry says. He points out the language is two-fold. While offering inmates a chance of execution, it also proposes giving courts the ability to alter no-parole sentences. To qualify for an altered sentence under the bill, inmates would have to be over the age of 25, exhausted all appeals, have no known additional offenses, earned a high school diploma and actively sought all available rehabilitative programs.

"I would like to point out that none of us want to die,” Terry said. “I think the desire to live is deeply ingrained on a cellular level. If somebody cuts their wrists or swallows a handful of pills, the body revolts by sending blood platelets to heal the gap or to organs to dispose of the toxins. So I think it's at our very core to desire to live.”

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 banned life without parole sentences for juveniles. Many countries in South America and some in Europe, including Spain and Norway, have banned life sentences without parole. Supporters of such bans claim an indefinite sentence is inhumane and runs contrary to any claims correctional facilities offer rehabilitation.

Allowing an inmate to choose death would be legally complicated. Even in cases where a defendant pleads guilty, a jury must decide if the evidence is sufficient for a death penalty.

"The question remains, is a life devoid of hope and dignity truly a life at all?” Terry said. "At the end of the day, I think we all value a sense of purpose. Knowing right now I am never going home, I have no daylight, I am still expected to jump through all the hoops that everyone else is expected to jump through. I'm still asked what my rehabilitative goals are for the year, even though the question is, rehabilitating me for what? In that, so much of the cruelty lies.”

In a letter accompanying the proposed bill, Terry lays out a number of benefits to the state. Citing a cost of lifetime incarceration at $1 million per inmate, Terry says those funds could be transferred to education, which he says is the best deterrent for crime.

"Not only does it provide a degree of restitution, it allows taxpayer dollars to net a greater return on a far greater investment, in that education has statistically proven the most successful deterrent to recidivism and diversion mechanism to the flow of children entering the prison pipeline," Terry writes.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann declined to comment on Terry's proposal.

State Rep. Shane Roden, R-Cedar Hill, was the chairman of the House Corrections and Public Institutions Committee last year. When asked about Terry’s proposal, he said that as a former law enforcement officer, he admits he feels little sympathy for those convicted of violent crimes.

"Those individuals who have been sent up for life without parole have done some pretty heinous crimes,” he said. "I argued against releasing elderly inmates as well that are in prison for certain time frames. I feel obligated we have made a pact with the jury when they offer a life without parole sentence."

Roden says he is willing to read Terry’s proposal and says that it is an interesting proposition, especially since many against the death penalty argue execution is more expensive than incarceration.

“That is a new one to me," Roden said. "I have never heard that before. Usually the other argument from the anti-death penalty is that it costs more to put somebody to death than to give them life without parole. To me personally, we are housing them for 20 years, that’s part of the problem. When you’ve lost all your appeals in cut and dry cases like some of these are, there shouldn’t be a waiting line.

“I would be willing to take a look at it. I don’t think I would be willing to offer them an alternative at getting out of jail.”

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ppratt@columbaitribune.com

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