Thomas F. Kelaher, the new pres­i­dent of the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey, said that it is time to start rethink­ing the use of the death penal­ty in the state. Although Kelaher is a sup­port­er of the death penal­ty, he not­ed: ​“If the death penal­ty has­n’t been used in 20 years, soci­ety should ask if it should be con­tin­ued. It was sup­posed to act as a deter­rent. If it has­n’t been used in 20 years, you real­ly can’t say it’s a deter­rent.” Kelaher expressed con­cern about the recent num­ber of high-pro­file cas­es in which defen­dants have been sen­tenced to death around the coun­try only to be freed after DNA tests proved their inno­cence. He was also trou­bled by the high costs of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. (Asbury Park Press, Sept. 11, 2004). See New Voices; see also DPIC’s report On the Front Line: Law Enforcement Views on the Death Penalty.

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