Publications & Testimony

South Carolina and Oklahoma Governors Sign Bills Expanding Death Penalty South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry have signed into law leg­is­la­tion that allows proseuc­tors to seek the death penal­ty for repeat child moles­ters. The new South Carolina law allows a death sen­tence if the accused has been twice con­vict­ed of rap­ing a child younger than 11-years-old. It also sets a 25-year manda­to­ry min­i­mum prison sen­tence for some sex offend­ers, mandates…

Conservative Support Moves Ohio Death Penalty Study Bill With bipar­ti­san sup­port, Ohio’s House of Representatives passed a bill to cre­ate an 18-mem­ber com­mit­tee to con­duct an exhaus­tive study of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the state. Under the bill, which passed by a vote of 64 – 30 in the Republican-con­trolled House, the com­mit­tee would exam­ine all cap­i­tal tri­als since the state rein­stat­ed the pun­ish­ment in 1981. The com­mit­tee would exam­ine issues such as race,…

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Closing of the Capital Defender Office Will Save the State Millions as New York’s Death Penalty Ends New York’s Capital Defender Office is prepar­ing to close its doors in the wake of a N.Y. Court of Appeals rul­ing that dis­posed of the final appeal of a death sen­tence under the cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment law declared uncon­sti­tu­tion­al in 2004. ​“It is … my inten­tion to close the office as soon as prac­ti­cal­ly pos­si­ble,” said Kevin M. Doyle, who has served as Executive Director of the…

New Mexico House Approves Death Penalty Repeal Bill The New Mexico House of Representatives has approved leg­is­la­tion that would repeal the death penal­ty and replace it with a sen­tence of life with­out parole. Supporters of the mea­sure say that it will save tax­pay­ers an esti­mat­ed $3 mil­lion a year, mon­ey they con­tend would be bet­ter spent on help­ing vic­tims’ fam­i­lies. They also note that cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment could result in an inno­cent person…

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…

State Legislators Advance Bills to Ban Juvenile Death Penalty Just weeks after leg­is­la­tors in Wyoming and South Dakota passed leg­is­la­tion to ban the exe­cu­tion of juve­nile offend­ers, law­mak­ers in Florida are on a sim­i­lar course that may send a bill that elim­i­nates the death penal­ty for those under the age of 18 to Governor Jeb Bush for sig­na­ture into law. Members of the Florida Senate passed the juve­nile death penal­ty ban by a vote of 26 – 12, and the House is…

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Nebraska’s Death Penalty Repeal Bill Falls One Vote Short A mea­sure to repeal Nebraska​’s death penal­ty and replace it with a sen­tence of life with­out parole fell one vote short of mov­ing to the sec­ond of three stages in con­sid­er­a­tion by the uni­cam­er­al leg­is­la­ture. It was the first time the full leg­is­la­ture had debat­ed the death penal­ty in near­ly two decades. The mea­sure’s defeat fol­lowed two days of debate about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, includ­ing whether decisions…

Montana Assistant Attorney General Calls for Death Penalty Repeal Montana Assistant Attorney General John Connor has voiced sup­port for a leg­isla­tive mea­sure that would abol­ish cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in his state. Stating his belief that the death penal­ty does not deter crime and is expen­sive, Connor told the Montana House Judiciary Committee, ​“It seems to me to be the ulti­mate incon­gruity to say we respect life so much that we’re going to ded­i­cate all our mon­ey, all our…