WISCONSIN PUTS DEATH TO A VOTE
More than 150 years separated the murders of Bridgett McCaffry and Teresa Halbach, but they may prove to be historic bookends to Wisconsin's century-and-a-half-old law preventing the execution of convicted killers.

Voters in Wisconsin will be asked in November whether the Legislature should enact the death penalty, ending America's second-longest prohibition on capital punishment.

While the vote is advisory, the outcome is awaited with great interest by partisans on both sides of the roiling capital punishment debate because votes on the death penalty usually are confined to legislative chambers and courtrooms. Referendums have been rare in the volatile public arena, where years of polls show consistently strong support for capital punishment.

The upper Midwest states have long histories of resistance to the death penalty, and the coming Wisconsin vote is the first potential crack in that fortress. If the referendum is approved, pressure will build on Wisconsin lawmakers--they effectively told voters they want their opinion--to respond to public sentiment.

"I'm certainly worried about it. I take it very seriously," said E. Michael McCann, Milwaukee County's district attorney and a longtime opponent of the death penalty.

(Mr. McCann is the NDAA State Director for Wisconsin)

In parts of Europe, many elected officials have been ignoring the popular will on this issue for decades. I'm sure wily Wisconsin legislators can find a way to ignore or excuse any result with which they disagree.