New Jersey Close to Abolishing the Death Penalty
December 14, 2007
When Governor Jon Corzine signs the legislation passed by both houses of New Jersey’s state legislature the state will become the first in 40 years to abolish the death penalty. Three other states – Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana – have recently attempted to pass such legislation, but so far none have been able to get it past the state legislature.
Thirty-seven states (and the federal government) currently have a death penalty. Lethal injection is currently the standard method of execution, but these sentences have been put on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether or not it qualifies as cruel and unusual (Associated Press).
Once New Jersey’s governor signs the bill, the state’s eight death row inmates will face a choice: stay on the row or waive all rights to an appeal in exchange for a life sentence with no chance of parole. But the New York Times points out that their sentences will “effectively” be commuted to life in prison anyway.
Even though New Jersey has had a death penalty, it hasn’t performed an execution since 1963.
