The Death Penalty Moratorium in New Jersey

THREE NEW RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE:

The American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project’s Assessment of Georgia’s Death Penalty
Released: January 31, 2006.

Amnesty International’s Report on ​“The Execution of Mentally Ill Offenders”
Released: January 31, 2006.

The Constitution Project’s fol­low-up report: ​“Mandatory Justice: The Death Penalty Revisited”
February 1, 2006.

(DPIC will pro­vide more infor­ma­tion on each of these reports lat­er.)


The Death Penalty Moratorium in New Jersey

New Jersey law­mak­ers have vot­ed to sus­pend exe­cu­tions while a study com­mis­sion exam­ines the fair­ness and expense of the state’s death penal­ty. Governor Richard Codey signed the bill on January 12. New Jersey is the first state to impose a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions through leg­is­la­tion.

NEW JERSEY’S MORATORIUM

New Jersey’s mora­to­ri­um will remain in effect until January 15, 2007. New Jersey is the third state to halt exe­cu­tions since cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was rein­stat­ed. Since 2000, mora­to­ri­ums have been estab­lished by exec­u­tive order in Illinois and Maryland. Maryland’s mora­to­ri­um has since been lift­ed. The death penal­ty statutes in New York and Kansas were both found uncon­sti­tu­tion­al in 2004 and have not been reme­died.

THE STUDY COMMISSION

New Jersey’s study com­mis­sion must be appoint­ed with­in 45 days of the bil­l’s sign­ing into law. The group will con­sist of 13 mem­bers and they will have until November 2006 to report their find­ings. Among the issues the com­mis­sion will exam­ine are pos­si­ble racial and geo­graph­ic bias, costs, and whether alter­na­tives exist that will both ensure pub­lic safe­ty and address the needs of vic­tims’ fam­i­lies.

LEGISLATIVE VOTE HISTORY
(In favor of the mora­to­ri­um)

Assembly 55 – 21 (12/​15/​05)
Senate 30 – 6 (1/​9/​06)


(Associated Press, January 9, 2006 and The Trenton Times, December 14, 2005).