New York Takes Historic Step Towards Ending the Death Penalty

The Codes Committee of the New York Assembly has voted 11 – 7 against considering legislation to re-instate the death penalty in New York, a decision that likely ends such efforts during this legislative term. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has recently voiced concerns about the death penalty and has shifted his stance away from supporting capital punishment. New York’s current death penalty law was passed in 1995 but declared invalid by a ruling from the state’s highest court last year. While the recent death penalty was in place in New York, no executions were carried out. (Associated Press, April 12, 2005). The Committee vote came after five days of hearings in New York City and Albany at which almost all the speakers raised serious problems about New York’s statute and the death penalty generally. See DPIC’s Web page on New York’s death penalty. See also, Recent Legislative Activity.