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State And Federal Info

Connecticut

History of the Death Penalty

In colonial Connecticut, capital crimes included idolatry, witchcraft, and blasphemy.

Famous Cases

The first person executed for witchcraft in what is now the United States was Achsah Young, who was executed in Hartford in 1647.

In 1786, Hannah Occuish, a 12-year-old Native American girl, was hanged in New London for the murder of a young white girl. She may have been the youngest person ever executed in the United States.

The last person executed in Connecticut who had exhausted all appeals was Frank Wojulewicz, who was executed in 1959 for murdering a police officer and bystander while committing a robbery. The two men executed since then both dropped appeals and “volunteered” for execution.

Notable Commutations/Clemencies

Connecticut is one of five states that gives clemency authority to a board, rather than the governor. No death row prisoner was granted clemency during the period in which the death penalty had been reinstated.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

In 2009, the Connecticut legislature passed a bill to abolish the death penalty, but the bill was vetoed by Governor M. Jodi Rell.

In 2012, Connecticut abolished the death penalty for future crimes. Eleven men remained on death row until 2015, when the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 4-3 in State v. Santiago that the death penalty violated the state constitution. The Court indicated at that time that the remaining death row prisoners were entitled to be resentenced to life without parole. However, after one of the justices in the Santiago majority left the Court, prosecutors sought and were granted permission to re-open the issue. On May 26, 2016, in State v. Peeler, the Court reaffirmed its holding in Santiago by a vote of 5-2.

The remaining death-row prisoners were resentenced one at a time, as their cases were decided in the lower courts. On December 6, 2018, Richard Roszkowski became the last of the eleven formerly death-row prisoners to be formally resentenced to life without possibility of release.

Other Interesting Facts

Connecticut carried out only one execution in the modern era of the death penalty. Michael Ross was executed by lethal injection in 2005 after giving up his appeals.

Bear Mountain. Public domain photo.
Bear Mountain. Public domain photo.

Resources

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Connecticut Execution Totals Since 1976

News & Developments


Prosecutorial Accountability

Aug 09, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of August 3, 2020

NEWS (8/​6/​20) — Connecticut: The Connecticut Supreme Court grant­ed a new tri­al to for­mer death-row pris­on­er Lazale Ashby. The court ruled that the pro…

Victims' Families

Feb 01, 2019

Victims’ Families and Death Penalty Repeal Efforts

Efforts to repeal the death penal­ty have often focused on the needs of mur­der vic­tims’ fam­i­lies. For exam­ple, in Connecticut, 179 mur­der vic­tims’ fam­i­lies signed a let­ter to leg­is­la­tors, which stat­ed, Our direct expe­ri­ences with …

Sentencing Alternatives

Nov 01, 2018

LWOP Post-Repeal

Life Without Parole Laws in States That Recently Repealed the Death Penalty…

Deterrence

Jan 12, 2018

Experience Shows No ​“Parade of Horribles” Following Abolition of the Death Penalty

States that have recent­ly abol­ished the death penal­ty have not expe­ri­enced the ​“parade of hor­ri­bles” — includ­ing increased mur­der rates — pre­dict­ed by death-penal­ty pro­po­nents, accord­ing to death-penal­ty experts who par­tic­i­pat­ed in a pan­el discussion …

Experience Shows No “Parade of Horribles” Following Abolition of the Death Penalty

Arbitrariness

May 27, 2016

Connecticut Supreme Court Reaffirms Retroactive Death Penalty Repeal

In a 5 – 2 deci­sion issued May 26, the Connecticut Supreme Court reaf­firmed its August 2015 deci­sion in State v. Santiago that the death penal­ty viola…

Connecticut Supreme Court Reaffirms Retroactive Death Penalty Repeal

Victims' Families

Jan 25, 2016

VICTIMS: Murder Victim’s Daughter Says ​“Broken” Death Penalty Doesn’t Bring Closure and is ​“A Waste”

Dawn Mancarella, whose moth­er, Joyce Masury, was mur­dered 20 years ago, called the death penal­ty ​“a waste of ener­gy and mon­ey [that] doesn’t bring jus­tice or clo­sure.” Sharing her views on the death penal­ty in a col­umn for Connecticut’s Regist…

VICTIMS: Murder Victim's Daughter Says "Broken" Death Penalty Doesn't Bring Closure and is "A Waste"

Arbitrariness

Jan 11, 2016

Connecticut Supreme Court Hears Prosecutors’ Argument Seeking to Overturn Death Penalty Ban

On January 7, the Connecticut Supreme Court heard argu­ments in State of Connecticut v. Russell Peeler, in which state pros­e­cu­tors are seek­ing to over­turn the court’s 4 – 3 deci­sion last sum­mer declar­ing Connecticut’s death penal­ty unconstit…

Connecticut Supreme Court Hears Prosecutors' Argument Seeking to Overturn Death Penalty Ban

Arbitrariness

Sep 03, 2015

ANALYSIS: Do Recent Connecticut and U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Portend Downfall of Capital Punishment?

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize win­ning legal com­men­ta­tor Linda Greenhouse ana­lyzes the sig­nif­i­cance of and inter­play between the recent Connecticut Supreme Co…

ANALYSIS: Do Recent Connecticut and U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Portend Downfall of Capital Punishment?

Arbitrariness

Aug 13, 2015

Connecticut Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty Violates State Constitution

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on August 13 that the death penal­ty vio­lates the state con­sti­tu­tion. In the 4 – 3 deci­sion in State v. Santiago, the Court said that, because of the 

Connecticut Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty Violates State Constitution

Arbitrariness

Nov 19, 2014

EDITORIALS: Maryland Governor Should Commute Remaining Death Sentences

In a recent edi­to­r­i­al, the Washington Post urged Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to com­mute the sen­tences of the four men remain­ing on the state’s death row, say­ing, ​“To car­ry out exe­cu­tions post-repeal would be both cr…

EDITORIALS: Maryland Governor Should Commute Remaining Death Sentences
View More

news

Experience Shows No “Parade of Horribles” Following Abolition of the Death Penalty

View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: No
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 1
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): 126
  • Current Death Row Population: 0
  • Women on Death Row: 0
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 0
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 0
  • Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): October 1, 1973
  • Date of Abolition: April 25, 2012
  • Location of Death Row/Executions: Northern Correctional Institution, Somers
  • Capital: Hartford
  • Region: Northeast
  • Population: 3,565,287
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000): 2.92
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option: Yes
  • Method of Execution: Injection. In 2012, CT abolished the death penalty prospectively. In 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court struck down the remaining death sentences.
  • Clemency Process: N/A
  • Governor: Ned Lamont

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