In 1982, as a second term Assemblyman, Raymond Lesniak voted to reinstate the death penalty in New Jersey. In December 2007, New Jersey voted to abolish the death penalty, becoming the first state in 40 years to accomplish this. Senator Lesniak was one of the sponsors and legislative leaders of the abolition bill. He has written a new book: “The Road to Abolition: How New Jersey Abolished the Death Penatly.”
In commenting on the book, Senator Lesniak said, “Why do I care so much about the murderers on death row who, except for the innocent ones, committed the most heinous acts of murder imaginable? I don’t. I’m not as enlightened as Sister Helen Prejean. But I do care about the damage that holding on to anger, resentment and the need for vengeance does to us as a society and as human beings.”
