The New York Court of Appeals ruled today (October 23, 2007) that the death sen­tence of the last remain­ing inmate on the state’s death row was uncon­sti­tu­tion­al under state law. John Taylor​’s sen­tence will be changed to life in prison with­out parole. An ear­li­er deci­sion by the state’s high court in 2004 over­turned the state’s statute because of flaws in the jury instruc­tions. (People v. LaValle). Following hear­ings on the prob­lems with cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state, the New York leg­is­la­ture has repeat­ed­ly reject­ed attempts to re-instate the death penal­ty.
(Associated Press, NY Times, Oct. 23, 2007). See Recent Legislative Activity — NY. New York is now in the same posi­tion of oth­er states such as Massachusetts where the death penal­ty law was over­turned and the leg­is­la­ture has not re-instat­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. This leaves 37 states with death penal­ty laws in the country.

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