Lawmakers call on Governor to free Jeff Mizanskey

Jeff Mizanskey is the only man in Missouri serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole and lawmakers are pushing to get him out of prison.

Nearly 130 lawmakers signed the petition that was taken to the Governor’s office Tuesday along with 400,000 signatures of citizens in Missouri.

During a news conference held at the Capitol on Tuesday lawmakers made some interesting comparisons to Mizanskey.

Supporters of Jeff Mizanskey also helped hand deliver the petition to the Governor’s office.

“The person we’re talking about today got convicted and they admitted they were smoking pot and our current President was trying cocaine and we’re going to put these people in jail for life?” That was a comparison Representative Kevin Engler made during the conference.

After 21 years in prison, Representative Paul Fitzwater said Mizanskey has served his time.

“I think we have an obligation to make sure that citizens are held accountable for their actions, but we also have an obligation to ensure justice is served and in this case the punishment does not fit the crime,” said Representative Paul Fitzwater.

Mizanskey’s son, Chris, also spoke. “There’s no words that could explain how much it would mean to have my dad back in my life and our of that penitentiary, um, to be with my family. He’s an older man and doesn’t have much time left.”

Representative Shamed Dogan, the bill sponsor, said he hopes his bill doesn’t pass.

“It would be wonderful if the Governor would just take this bill out of consideration and grant clemency tomorrow. The sooner the better,” said Dogan.

Although supporters of Mizanskey weren’t able to get in front of the Governor Tuesday, they dropped of the nearly 400,000 signatures in boxes on his desk.

Lawmakers also said for each year a prisoner is incarcerated it cost taxpayers nearly $20,000.