Publications & Testimony

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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…

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…

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.

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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…

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…

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…

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…