Death Penalty

It's been over 40 years since Iowa and West Virginia repealed their capital punishment statutes in 1965.  Since that time the death penalty has been invalidated, and reinstated; lethal injection has taken over as the main method of execution; and 124 people have been found innocent and released from death row.  Now, it looks like we are experiencing history in the making as New Jersey moves one step closer to becoming the next state, the first in over 40 years, to legislatively abolish the death penalty.

The Senate budget committee approved the abolition bill today by a vote of 8-4, which you can read about here.  This is the first step of several before we can add New Jersey to the ranks of the 13 other states in the U.S., and 133 other countries around the world, who have wisely decided that the death penalty has no place in today's society.  Next, the bill will go for a full Senate vote sometime before the legislative session ends on January 8^th.  The bill must also pass through an Assembly committee, and will then go in front of the full Assembly for a vote on December 13^th. 

At this point Governor John Corzine, a death penalty foe, must sign the bill into law.

The wheels of New Jersey's death penalty machinery began to slowly grind to a halt in January 2006 when a state-wide moratorium was imposed to allow a commission to study the state's death penalty policy.  The commission delivered their findings in January 2007, and you can read the full report here. 

Basically, lawmakers in New Jersey discovered what many have known for quite some time ... that the death penalty is dead wrong!  It is past time that states across the country finally begin to evaluate their systems of capital punishment as New Jersey has ... and I expect most will come to the same conclusion, that it is time to kill the death penalty.

And for those of you sitting at your computer in New Jersey - don't just read this blog - call your representatives!  Call your senators and assembly members.  They still need to hear from you.  Already called?  Call again!  Tell them that you oppose the death penalty and you want them to vote for the death penalty abolition bill.  Don't know their number?  Visit New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty's action center and scroll halfway down the page where you will see a link to every legislator's contact information.  It's that easy, so NO excuses!  Do it today!  Be a part of history in the making ...

And, as we've said before on this blog ... Go New Jersey Go!