Today, December 10, 2007, the New Jersey Senate will vote on a bill (Senate Bill 171) to replace the death penal­ty with the sen­tence of life with­out parole. Earlier, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission held exten­sive pub­lic hear­ings that cul­mi­nat­ed in a report call­ing for an end to the death penal­ty. The Commission con­sist­ed of a wide range of per­spec­tives, includ­ing law enforce­ment, vic­tims, and attor­neys. Some of the key find­ings of the report included:

  • Abolition of the death penal­ty will elim­i­nate the risk of dis­pro­por­tion­al­i­ty in capital sentencing.
  • The peno­log­i­cal inter­est in exe­cut­ing a small num­ber of per­sons guilty of mur­der is not suf­fi­cient­ly com­pelling to jus­ti­fy the risk of mak­ing an irreversible mistake.
  • The alter­na­tive of life impris­on­ment in a max­i­mum secu­ri­ty insti­tu­tion with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole would suf­fi­cient­ly ensure pub­lic safe­ty and address oth­er legit­i­mate social and peno­log­i­cal inter­ests, includ­ing the inter­ests of the fam­i­lies of murder victims.
The New Jersey Assembly is expect­ed to vote on a sim­i­lar bill (Assembly Bill 3716) on December 13, and Governor Jon Corzine will sign the bill if it pass­es both hous­es. The bill would make New Jersey the first state to leg­isla­tive­ly abol­ish the death penal­ty since the U.S. Supreme Court rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1976.

Read the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission report here. See also Recent Legislative Activity. Posted Dec. 10, 2007.

Citation Guide