Sel Appa
08-12-2007, 06:20
After a two-year moratorium on a statute that was never used, a study has concluded that the death penalty should be repealed and it looks very likely it will by the end of the year. There are some people on death row in New Jersey, but they aren't likely to be executed anyway. The last execution took place in 1963. I am proud of my state for moving to become the first state to repeal since capital punishment was allowed.
Almost every state now has a de facto or do iure moratorium on it because of a case in the Supreme Court. About two dozen are actually seeing whether to keep it or not. The interesting thing is that despite all these moratoriums, there hasn't been a huge rise in murders. I thought it was a deterrent. Shouldn't people feel compelled to commit more murders since they won't die for it? I guess not. Maybe because people actually have a moral centre and won't just kill. Some will, but there are exceptions everywhere. Murders are caused by poverty or passion in general. The former can be stopped easily. The latter--the person loses all rational thought and cannot think of "the consequences".
I hope the measure passes and this leads to the eventual complete repeal of the death penalty in the United States...except Texas, they'll never understand rational thought.
Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20071207/pl_bloomberg/apfokxgr5e7w)
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey's Legislature may become the first in the U.S. to abolish the death penalty since the punishment was reinstated more than three decades ago.
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A bill to replace execution with life prison terms cleared a Senate committee this week and is scheduled for a Dec. 10 floor vote. The Assembly also is expected to consider the measure this month. Governor Jon Corzine, an outspoken critic of the death penalty, said today he will sign the legislation.
``I think everyone knows how I feel,'' Corzine, 60, a Democrat, told reporters at the Statehouse in Trenton.
Democrats, who control both houses of the legislature, have tried to repeal the state's death penalty since 1999. Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a sponsor who lost his bid for re-election last month, said the measure gained momentum after a state commission recommended in January that the penalty be abolished.
``One of the things about the death penalty that always bothered me is that it seems to lower us to the very level of the people we are trying to execute,'' said Caraballo, a Seton Hall University law professor and Newark Democrat. ``I've been talking to people, and I get good vibes'' that the measure will pass.
A Dec. 10 vote on the bill also has been scheduled by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts said last month he hoped to have the measure clear the house as soon as Dec. 13. The Legislature is in the final weeks of a session that ends in January when newly elected lawmakers take office.
``The Legislature has had a year to review the detailed report prepared by the Death Penalty Study Commission,'' Senate President Richard Codey said in a Dec. 4 statement. ``I think it's safe to say that we've had a thorough and nuanced discussion of the issue. It's now time for the full Senate to weigh in.''
Not Since 1963
New Jersey outlawed capital punishment in 1972, after critics argued that it was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, and New Jersey followed in 1982. With eight people on death row, the state hasn't executed a prisoner since 1963.
The state has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2005. Twenty-one states have such suspensions, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death-penalty group.
Nationwide, executions have been virtually halted as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether death by lethal injection violates constitution prohibitions against cruel and unusual Punishment, Dieter said.
Thirty-seven states including New Jersey allow executions. Courts in other states, including New York, have suspended the penalty by declaring it unconstitutional. New Jersey would be the first to repeal capital punishment through a legislative act, said Jim Manion, spokesman for Senate Democrats.
`Cruel Hoax'
Opponents of the death penalty say it makes no sense to have a law that is never used. They say they are concerned about the innocent being executed, and content it is more costly to undergo the lengthy appeals process used to defend cases involving the death penalty, which has little effectiveness as a deterrent.
``The death penalty in the state of New Jersey is a hoax. It's a cruel hoax on the families of victims,'' Edward DeFazio, a Hudson County prosecutor, testified before a Senate committee this week. ``The likelihood of anyone being put to death is nil. That's a fact.''
Those on New Jersey's death row include Marko Bey, 42, the longest-serving inmate, who entered in 1983 after being convicted for rape and murder, and Jesse Timmendequas, 46, who has been there since 1997 for the murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death led to laws to protect children from sex offenders.
$1.3 Million Per Inmate
Housing inmates on death row cost the state $84,400 last year, compared with $32,400 for general population prisoners, said Matt Schumann, a spokesman for the state Corrections Department. The higher costs for death row are due in part to the need for constant and tighter security, he said.
Eliminating the death penalty would save the state as much as $1.3 million per inmate over their lifetime, according to the death penalty commission's January report. The panel also said the Office of the Public Defender would save roughly $1.46 million if execution was outlawed.
Former Senate President John Russo, a Democrat whose father was murdered and who sponsored the state's 1982 execution law, said cost should not be a factor. He was the only one of the 13 commission members to recommend keeping the death penalty.
Russo said New Jersey's system of requiring separate jury deliberations on the conviction and sentencing of a prisoner is an effective safeguard against executing the innocent.
``This is an intense and profound moral issue,'' Russo told the Senate committee last week. ``We can have the death penalty in the most serious, grievous and heinous murders.''
Almost every state now has a de facto or do iure moratorium on it because of a case in the Supreme Court. About two dozen are actually seeing whether to keep it or not. The interesting thing is that despite all these moratoriums, there hasn't been a huge rise in murders. I thought it was a deterrent. Shouldn't people feel compelled to commit more murders since they won't die for it? I guess not. Maybe because people actually have a moral centre and won't just kill. Some will, but there are exceptions everywhere. Murders are caused by poverty or passion in general. The former can be stopped easily. The latter--the person loses all rational thought and cannot think of "the consequences".
I hope the measure passes and this leads to the eventual complete repeal of the death penalty in the United States...except Texas, they'll never understand rational thought.
Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20071207/pl_bloomberg/apfokxgr5e7w)
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey's Legislature may become the first in the U.S. to abolish the death penalty since the punishment was reinstated more than three decades ago.
ADVERTISEMENT
A bill to replace execution with life prison terms cleared a Senate committee this week and is scheduled for a Dec. 10 floor vote. The Assembly also is expected to consider the measure this month. Governor Jon Corzine, an outspoken critic of the death penalty, said today he will sign the legislation.
``I think everyone knows how I feel,'' Corzine, 60, a Democrat, told reporters at the Statehouse in Trenton.
Democrats, who control both houses of the legislature, have tried to repeal the state's death penalty since 1999. Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a sponsor who lost his bid for re-election last month, said the measure gained momentum after a state commission recommended in January that the penalty be abolished.
``One of the things about the death penalty that always bothered me is that it seems to lower us to the very level of the people we are trying to execute,'' said Caraballo, a Seton Hall University law professor and Newark Democrat. ``I've been talking to people, and I get good vibes'' that the measure will pass.
A Dec. 10 vote on the bill also has been scheduled by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts said last month he hoped to have the measure clear the house as soon as Dec. 13. The Legislature is in the final weeks of a session that ends in January when newly elected lawmakers take office.
``The Legislature has had a year to review the detailed report prepared by the Death Penalty Study Commission,'' Senate President Richard Codey said in a Dec. 4 statement. ``I think it's safe to say that we've had a thorough and nuanced discussion of the issue. It's now time for the full Senate to weigh in.''
Not Since 1963
New Jersey outlawed capital punishment in 1972, after critics argued that it was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, and New Jersey followed in 1982. With eight people on death row, the state hasn't executed a prisoner since 1963.
The state has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2005. Twenty-one states have such suspensions, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death-penalty group.
Nationwide, executions have been virtually halted as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether death by lethal injection violates constitution prohibitions against cruel and unusual Punishment, Dieter said.
Thirty-seven states including New Jersey allow executions. Courts in other states, including New York, have suspended the penalty by declaring it unconstitutional. New Jersey would be the first to repeal capital punishment through a legislative act, said Jim Manion, spokesman for Senate Democrats.
`Cruel Hoax'
Opponents of the death penalty say it makes no sense to have a law that is never used. They say they are concerned about the innocent being executed, and content it is more costly to undergo the lengthy appeals process used to defend cases involving the death penalty, which has little effectiveness as a deterrent.
``The death penalty in the state of New Jersey is a hoax. It's a cruel hoax on the families of victims,'' Edward DeFazio, a Hudson County prosecutor, testified before a Senate committee this week. ``The likelihood of anyone being put to death is nil. That's a fact.''
Those on New Jersey's death row include Marko Bey, 42, the longest-serving inmate, who entered in 1983 after being convicted for rape and murder, and Jesse Timmendequas, 46, who has been there since 1997 for the murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death led to laws to protect children from sex offenders.
$1.3 Million Per Inmate
Housing inmates on death row cost the state $84,400 last year, compared with $32,400 for general population prisoners, said Matt Schumann, a spokesman for the state Corrections Department. The higher costs for death row are due in part to the need for constant and tighter security, he said.
Eliminating the death penalty would save the state as much as $1.3 million per inmate over their lifetime, according to the death penalty commission's January report. The panel also said the Office of the Public Defender would save roughly $1.46 million if execution was outlawed.
Former Senate President John Russo, a Democrat whose father was murdered and who sponsored the state's 1982 execution law, said cost should not be a factor. He was the only one of the 13 commission members to recommend keeping the death penalty.
Russo said New Jersey's system of requiring separate jury deliberations on the conviction and sentencing of a prisoner is an effective safeguard against executing the innocent.
``This is an intense and profound moral issue,'' Russo told the Senate committee last week. ``We can have the death penalty in the most serious, grievous and heinous murders.''