By a vote of 25 – 15, mem­bers of the Connecticut Judiciary Committee vot­ed for leg­is­la­tion to repeal the state’s death penal­ty and replace it with life in prison with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole, an action that clears the way for the House to debate the mea­sure. Supporters of the bill say that the state’s death penal­ty is an unen­force­able statute, a source of agony for fam­i­lies of mur­der vic­tims, and a fis­cal bur­den the state can no longer afford to bear. ​“We should not be debat­ing spend­ing $3 mil­lion or $4 mil­lion to kill one man when we should be spend­ing that mon­ey on school books. We should choose to put our resources where we can grant life, not death,” said state House Deputy Majority Leader Toni N. Walker dur­ing a three hour com­mit­tee debate on the repeal mea­sure. The Judiciary Committee’s vote reflects a grow­ing con­sen­sus in the Connecticut House and Senate that the repeal bill deserves a debate on the floor of the full leg­isla­tive cham­ber. (New Haven Register, March 10, 2005). 

See Life Without Parole.

Citation Guide