2011 Legislation

California*

Bill (#490) intro­duced by Senator Loni Hancock to have a ref­er­en­dum on abol­ish­ing the state’s death penal­ty, not­ing its high costs

Passed Assembly’s Public Safety Com. 5 – 2. The bill was not vot­ed out of the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, sig­nal­ing the bil­l’s defeat. However, a coali­tion called Taxpayers for Justice announced it will begin the process of col­lect­ing sig­na­tures to place the issue on the bal­lot in 2012. (L.A. Times, Aug. 26, 2011).

Connecticut*

1. A bill co-spon­sored by Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield and Rep. Roland Lemar would abol­ish the death penal­ty for future cas­es and replace the sen­tence with life with­out parole. HB 6425. Another abo­li­tion bill would apply retroac­tive­ly. SB 1035.

2. SP 1029, 1054 and HB 6439 would cur­tail habeas cor­pus and make vic­tim impact state­ments admis­si­ble in sentencing

1. A sim­i­lar bill passed the leg­is­la­ture in 2009 but was vetoed by the gov­er­nor. The new gov­er­nor said he would sign such leg­is­la­tion. Joint Judiciary Committee hear­ing on Mar. 7. Passed(26 – 17) in Com. Apr. 12 (prospec­tive-only bill was passed and sub­sti­tut­ed for SB 1035). Next vote in the Senate.

Two Democratic sen­a­tors with­drew their sup­port for abo­li­tion this year, mak­ing pas­sage of the bill unlike­ly in 2011. Session end­ed without passage.

Florida*

1. Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda intro­duced a bill (HB 4189) to abol­ish the death penal­ty

2. Bill would divide the Fl. Sup. Ct. into civ­il and crim­i­nal branch­es, adding 3 judges. The pur­pose is to speed up death penal­ty appeals.

3. Bill to require unan­i­mous jury find­ings of aggra­vat­ing fac­tors and rec­om­men­da­tions for a death sen­tences. Sen. Thad Altman is pro­mot­ing the bill.

1. Passage con­sid­ered unlike­ly

2. Passed House Judiciary sub­com­mit­tee in March.

Georgia

SR 155 and HR 250 would urge District Attorneys not to seek the death penal­ty and instead rein­vest resources into solv­ing cold cas­es, ser­vices for vic­tims of crime and oth­er pub­lic safety measures.

Hawaii

SB 838 would estab­lish the death penalty

Illinois*

1.SB 3539 would repeal death penal­ty and use mon­ey saved to sup­port vic­tims’ fam­i­lies and assist law enforce­ment (part of 2010 leg­isla­tive ses­sion)

2.HB 1519 would reduce the num­ber of aggra­vat­ing fac­tors that could lead to a death sen­tence

3. HB 1520 would require a ref­er­en­dum in 2012 on the death penal­ty if it should be repealed leg­isla­tive­ly.

4. SB 2277 would estab­lish a state pan­el to approve cas­es for capital prosecution.

1. Passed House 60 – 54 on Jan. 6. PassedSenate by 32 – 25 on Jan. 11.

Abolition signed by Governor Quinn on March 9, 2011. Read Text of the bill. Bill effec­tive July 1, 2011. Gov. com­mut­ed all death sen­tences to life with­out parole and said he would com­mute any oth­er death sen­tences pri­or to the effec­tive date.

2 – 4. Three bills to rein­state the death penal­ty have been intro­duced by Rep. Dennis Reboletti; one of which would put the issue to a vot­er ref­er­en­dum. Passage unlike­ly. Session end­ed, bills not passed.

Indiana*

Bill to abol­ish the death penal­ty — SB 344.

Kansas*

HB 2323 would abol­ish the death penal­ty and replace the sen­tence with life with­out parole for future cases.

The bill is spon­sored by the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee.

Kentucky*

1.HB 274 would exempt the severe­ly men­tal­ly ill from the death penal­ty.

2. HB 292 would abol­ish the death penalty.

Maryland*

Del. Sandy Rosenberg is the lead spon­sor of a bill to abol­ish the death penal­ty. HB 1075 and SB 837.

Bill to be intro­duced Feb. 10. Hearings in House Judic. Com. on Mar. 15. Session end­ed with­out pas­sage (Defeated).

Massachusetts

Would rein­state the death penal­ty — HB 470

Mississippi

Would estab­lish a mora­to­ri­um on death penal­ty — HB 127

Missouri*

1. Bill to help pre­vent race-based pros­e­cu­tion HB 516

2. HB 517 would allow a right to coun­sel at clemen­cy pro­ceed­ings

3. HB 700 would impose a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions and insti­tute a study of the state’s death penal­ty

4. HB 799 would repeal the death penal­ty & cre­ate a cold-case fund

Montana*

SB 185 would repeal the death penal­ty and replace it with life with­out parole. Sen. Dave Wazenried is the primary sponsor.

Passed Senate Judiciary Committee hear­ing 7 – 5 on Feb. 10. Passed Senate 26 – 24 on Feb. 14. Passed final Senate vote on Feb. 15 and moves to House. House hear­ing on Mar. 15. Defeatedin House Judic. Com. on Mar. 18.

Nebraska*

LB 276 would replace the death penal­ty with life with­out parole plus resti­tu­tion to vic­tims’ families.

Passed Judic. Com. 6 – 1 in March, but unlike­ly to be final­ly vot­ed on this year.

Nevada

1. SB 283 attempts to short­en death penal­ty appeals by with­draw­ing the require­ment of appoint­ing an attor­ney for post-con­vic­tion review

2. AB 501 would impose a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions until 2013 and man­date a fis­cal analy­sis of the state’s death penalty.

1. Sen. Judic. Com. hear­ing in April.

2. Moratorium pro­vi­sion unlike­ly this year; fis­cal analy­sis pos­si­ble. Fiscal analy­sis passedAssembly by a vote of 28 – 14. Passed sen­ate, but vetoed by governor.

New Hampshire

1. A bill to expand the death penal­ty to mur­ders com­mit­ted in the course of a home inva­sion; the Kimberly Cates Bill (HB 167)

2. A bill to expand the death penal­ty for all mur­ders (HB 162)

1. Hearing before House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on both bills (Feb. 1). House vote on Mar. 15. House passed HB 167. Senate passed bill with amend­ment. House passed Senate bill by vote of 211 – 153. Bill sent to gov­er­nor for like­ly sig­na­ture.

2. Passed Crim. Justice & Pub. Safety Com., (Oct) rec­om­mend­ing pas­sage in Jan. 2012.

New Jersey

Sen. Robert Singer intro­duced a bill to rein­state the death penal­ty for the mur­der of a child, police offi­cer, or while com­mit­ting ter­ror­ism. (S‑2674)

New Mexico

Rep. Kintigh intro­duced House Joint Resolution 6 that would put rein­state­ment of the death penal­ty before the vot­ers in a 2012 referendum.

Bill requires pas­sage by 2/​3 of both hous­es. Reinstatement appears unlike­ly. Session end­ed with­out pas­sage (defeat­ed).

New York

Sen. Gregg Ball (R‑Carmel) plans to intro­duce a bill rein­stat­ing the death penal­ty for the mur­der of a police offi­cer or corrections officer.

Announcement Mar. 4.

North Carolina

1. HB 615 would effec­tive­ly repeal the state’s Racial Justice Act by requir­ing proof of inten­tion­al dis­crim­i­na­tion

2. HB 659 would exempt the severe­ly men­tal­ly ill from the death penatly.

1. Before House Judic. Com. Passed Com. June 1. Repeal of RJA passed by both Houses in a spe­cial ses­sioni. Vetoed by the gov­er­nor on Dec. 14. Legislature will have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to over­ride veto.

2. Passed House Judic. SubCom. B unan­i­mous­ly on April 20. Bill moves on to Appropriations Com. Passed Approp. Com. June 1.

Both bills had not been passed at the close of the regualr ses­sion. A spe­cial ses­sion of the leg­is­la­ture is tak­ing place in November that may con­sid­er HB 615.

Ohio*

A bill co-spon­sored by Rep. Ted Celeste and Rep. Nickie Antonio would abol­ish the death penal­ty and replace the sen­tence with life without parole.

Chief Justice of Sup. Ct. estab­lished a blue-rib­bon com­mis­sion to study all aspects of the death penalty.

Introduced week of Mar. 14. Hearings Dec. 14.

Oklahoma

A bill to allow exe­cu­tion by ​“drug or drugs” deter­mined by the Dept. of Corrections, per­haps lead­ing to a single-drug protocol.

Passed House 94 – 0. Passed Senate pan­el, March 22. Bill passed and sent to gov­er­nor. OK has con­tin­ued to use a 3‑drug protocol.

Oregon

Bills to lim­it death penal­ty; e.g., pros­e­cu­tion must announce intent to seek death with­in 180 days of charg­ing mur­der. See SB 365, 366.

April.

Governor declared a mora­to­ri­um on all executions.

Pennsylvania*

1. Bill to abol­ish death penal­ty — SB 423

2. Bill to expand cur­rent death penal­ty for cer­tain vic­tims — HB317; would make reg­is­tra­tion as a sex offend­er under Megan’s law an aggra­vat­ing fac­tor.

3. SB 397 to estab­lish stan­dards for deter­min­ing intel­lec­tu­al dis­abili­ies as an exemp­tion from the death penalty.

4. SB 6 Resolution to ini­ti­ate a study of death penalty.

1. Introduced Mar. 24

2. Passed House in ear­ly April.

3. Passed Senate in October.

4. Passed Senate on Dec. 14. No fur­ther action nec­es­sary so study can begin.

Tennessee

Bill to exempt the severe­ly men­tal­ly ill from the death penalty-HB 2064

Hearing on April 19 in House Judic. Com. On April 21, bill was trans­ferred to a sum­mer study com., there­by putting off its pas­sage at this time.

Texas*

1. HB 819, authored by Reps. Farrar, Allen, and Marquez, calls for repeal of the death penal­ty in Texas.

2. HB 1641 would estab­lish a mora­to­ri­um and study of the death penal­ty

3. A bill to allow the death penal­ty for the mur­der of a child under age 11.

1&2. A hear­ing on the bills will like­ly be held at the end of March.

3. Passed Senate 28 – 2.

Utah

Bill to restrict death penal­ty appeals (HB202); would gen­er­al­ly bar a court from issu­ing a tem­po­rary stay of exe­cu­tion fol­low­ing a defen­dan­t’s 1^st post-con­vic­tion peti­tion. The bill also would lim­it pub­lic fund­ing of defense coun­sel after that first post-con­vic­tion peti­tion has been reject­ed. There is an excep­tion for new evi­dence that would alter the case’s outcome.

Unanimously passed House Judicariary Standing Committe (Jan. 27). Passed Senate 27 – 0 (Feb. 17) and sent to governor.

Virginia

Bill would allow the death penal­ty for co-con­spir­a­tors in cas­es of rape, where the vic­tim is mur­dered. Senator Obenshain’s bill (SB 1200).

Passed a sub­com­mit­tee of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee (Jan. 27). Full Committee vot­ed 8 – 7 to table the bill indef­i­nite­ly (defeat­ed).

Washington*

SB 5456 would repeal the death penalty

Bill did not get vot­ed out of com­mit­tee (defeat­ed).

West Virginia

HB 2526 would rein­state the death penalty.

Hearing in the House of Delegates Feb. 15. Reinstatement appears unlike­ly. Bill did not pass in this leg­isla­tive ses­sion (defeat­ed).

Federal

Sen. Patrick Leahy has intro­duced a bill imple­ment­ing the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The bill would allow fed­er­al courts to review cap­i­tal cas­es when defen­dants were deprived of their rights to con­sular noti­fi­ca­tion. (June)

An exe­cu­tion occurred in Texas on July 7 of Humberto Leal from Mexico who was not informed of his rights under the Convention.