The country continues to struggle with the issue of capital punishment and questions ranging from how fairly sentences are imposed and carried out to the effectiveness of legal execution as a deterrent to serious crime.

The Library and American Public Square explore the moral, legal, political, and other aspects of the death penalty and how they resonate locally in a mannerly discussion featuring both opponents and proponents. On the panel are Tricia Bushnell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project; the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection; political consultant and strategist Terry Nelson, a founding partner of FP1 Strategies; and Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd.

University of Missouri-Kansas City professor and former U.S. ambassador to Portugal Allan Katz moderates, and KCPT-TV’s Nick Haines serves as a roving reporter.

The event, co-presented by American Public Square, KCPT-TV and the Lyric Opera, precedes the Lyric’s presentation of the contemporary opera Dead Man Walking in March.