Members of New Jersey’s leg­is­la­ture have 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 that state. The bill had the sup­port of key state leg­is­la­tors, includ­ing Republican Senator Robert Martin. Martin said that he believed it might be time for New Jersey to con­sid­er a com­plete ban on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, not­ing that the state’s review process ​“is so cum­ber­some and expen­sive” that New Jersey might be bet­ter off ​“with a pun­ish­ment that was life impris­on­ment with­out parole.” Public opin­ion sur­veys show that many New Jerseyans agree with Martin. In a recent poll, pub­lic sup­port for the death penal­ty drops to 36% when respon­dents are giv­en the sen­tenc­ing option of life with­out parole. Support for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in gen­er­al has also sharply declined. According to the Eagleton Poll at Rutgers University, 76% of those ques­tioned sup­port­ed the death penal­ty in 1975, and in 1981, 73% stat­ed sup­port for the pun­ish­ment. A 1999 poll revealed that sup­port had declined to 63%. The study bill will now go to New Jersey Governor James McGreevey for his con­sid­er­a­tion and sig­na­ture into law. (New York Times, December 14, 2003) Read the leg­is­la­tion. See Recent Legislative Activity.

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