A month after New Jersey’s leg­is­la­ture passed by a wide mar­gin a bipar­ti­san bill call­ing for the cre­ation of a study com­mis­sion to exam­ine the cost, fair­ness and effects of cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions in the state, Governor James McGreevey has vetoed the mea­sure. The bill passed the leg­is­la­ture in December 2003 with the sup­port of key state law­mak­ers, includ­ing death penal­ty pro­po­nents. In recent years, pub­lic sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in gen­er­al has sharply declined in New Jersey, and the major­i­ty of those polled have favored a study. (See N.Y. Times, Dec. 14, 2003; New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium, Press Release, Jan. 12, 2004). Read the bill.

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