Key mem­bers of the New York Legislature who sup­port­ed the death penal­ty when it was rein­stat­ed in 1995 have changed their posi­tions and now favor let­ting the law expire. Joseph Lentol, Chair of the Codes Committee of the N.Y. Assembly, says he now sup­ports life with­out parole instead of restor­ing the death penal­ty for which he vot­ed in 1995. His announce­ment came at the con­clu­sion of hear­ings into the issue. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stat­ed that he will not be pres­sured into hav­ing the full Assembly vote on restor­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. ​“It clear­ly seems to be mov­ing in a direc­tion away from the death penal­ty in the last 10 years, now that you have life with­out parole gain­ing more accep­tance. Maybe it just should­n’t be,” Silver said refer­ring to the death penal­ty.

Lentol pre­dict­ed that the three com­mit­tees spon­sor­ing the series of five pub­lic hear­ings on the future of New York’s death penal­ty would rec­om­mend stick­ing to life with­out parole. Judiciary Committee Chair Helene Weinstein, an Assembly mem­ber who sup­port­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the past, said: ​“My vote 10 years ago was 10 years ago. There’s a lot of new infor­ma­tion, impor­tant infor­ma­tion, about DNA test­ing, about inno­cent peo­ple being con­vict­ed, and so on.” Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, the third leg­isla­tive leader of the hear­ings, strong­ly oppos­es cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment.

Their col­leagues in Albany have also indi­cat­ed a shift in sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. ​“A mora­to­ri­um on the death penal­ty, or doing noth­ing to restore it, seems the best way to go, because there’s very lit­tle evi­dence the death penal­ty has helped New York these 10 years,” said Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, who vot­ed for the 1995 death penal­ty statute. Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, also a sup­port­er of the 1995 law who now oppos­es it, added, ​“Look at what’s hap­pen­ing over in Connecticut; it’s a cir­cus over there with all those delays in a death penal­ty case. Why do we need that?”

Since 1995, an esti­mat­ed $175 mil­lion has been spent on death penal­ty cas­es with no executions. 

(New York Times, February 11, 2005) (empha­sis added). See New Voices, Life Without Parole, Innocence, and Costs.

Citation Guide