Publications & Testimony

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…

…

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…

The leg­is­la­ture defeat­ed a 2007 bill that would have made the death penal­ty manda­to­ry for those who mur­der law enforce­ment offi­cers.Missouri became the 16^th state to ban the exe­cu­tion of inmates with men­tal retar­da­tion. The Missouri bill, signed by Gov. Bob Holden on July 2, but not effec­tive until August 28, is not retroac­tive to those cur­rent­ly on death row. However, the gov­er­nor indi­cat­ed he would con­sid­er com­mut­ing the death sen­tences of those who meet the law’s…

Minnesota Committee Votes Down Death Penalty Following two hours of tes­ti­mo­ny includ­ing rep­re­sen­ta­tives of crime vic­tims and death row exonerees, the Minnesota Senate Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee vot­ed 8 – 2 against rein­stat­ing the death penal­ty, con­tin­u­ing near­ly a cen­tu­ry with­out the sen­tence on the state’s books. The Committee’s vote like­ly blocks pas­sage of the death penal­ty bill this year. Don Streufert, whose daugh­ter was raped and…

Michigan Lawmakers Reaffirm State’s Longstanding Ban on Capital Punishment In a vote uphold­ing the state’s long­stand­ing abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty, Michigan law­mak­ers refused to sup­port a mea­sure that would have put cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment before state vot­ers in a ref­er­en­dum. The vote fell 18 short of the 2/​3 required for pas­sage. During a lengthy House debate regard­ing the bill, Representative Jack Minor (D‑Flint) told his col­leagues that stud­ies show crime…

Massachusetts Again Votes Overwhelmingly Against Reinstating Death Penalty After over an hour of debate, the Massachusetts House of Representatives over­whelm­ing­ly reject­ed an attempt to rein­state the death penal­ty. Prior to the 110 – 46 vote, Governor Deval Patrick had vowed to veto the bill if it were approved. The bill was sim­i­lar to one sub­mit­ted by for­mer Governor Mitt Romney as a ​“gold stan­dard” for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. State Representatives cit­ed high costs and the…

NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials Gather in Maryland to Oppose Death Penalty Corrections offi­cials, pros­e­cu­tors and police chiefs recent­ly gath­ered in Annapolis, Maryland, to voice sup­port for a leg­isla­tive mea­sure that would repeal the state’s death penal­ty. ​“It is a human sys­tem, and because it is fal­li­ble and because it is human, it makes mis­takes. Executions make those mis­takes irre­versible,” said Matthew Campbell, a for­mer deputy state’s attor­ney for Montgomery and…