Colorado becomes 22nd U.S. state to abolish death penalty

DENVER (AP) - Colorado has become the 22nd U.S. state to abolish the death penalty as Gov. Jared Polis has signed a repeal bill into law.

Colorado’s Democrat-controlled Legislature passed repeal legislation this year after picking up the support of some Republican lawmakers.

The law applies to offenses charged starting July 1.

Polis also commuted the sentences of all three men on Colorado's death row. Colorado has rarely used the death penalty in recent decades.

Its last execution was in 1997, and the one before that in 1967.