[CUADPUpdate] Steps 2 & 3 COMPLETE!

[Abraham J. Bonowitz]

Greetings All!

What a LONG (and happy) Human Rights Day!  There are several blog 
posts, including my short video of the vote tally board in the NJ 
Senate, at http://deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com/

DPIC Writes:

The New Jersey Senate today approved bill S-171 which will replace the
state's death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. The
measure was approved by a vote of 21-16 and now moves to the State
Assembly, where approval is also expected in a vote on Thursday. The
governor has indicated he will sign the bill into law, making New Jersey
the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty in over 40
years. Around the country, the death penalty is declining in use and
other states are examining their own capital punishment statutes. (See
*DPIC's Press Release).* 
<<http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/NJpressrel.pdf>http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/NJpressrel.pdf>


NCADP Writes:  http://www.ncadp.org/blog.cfm

The Star Ledger writes:

The Senate voted 21-16 to approve 
<http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/S0500/171_I1.PDF>the bill 
slated for a Thursday vote by the state Assembly, after the Assembly 
Law and Public Safety Committee voted 5-1 in favor of it today.

The measure would repeal the death penalty and replace it with 
mandatory life in prison without possibility of parole. If approved 
by the full Assembly, the bill goes to Gov. Jon Corzine, who has 
called the change a move in the "right direction." Corzine has until 
the lame duck legislative session ends on Jan. 8 to sign the bill.

New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982 and has eight men on 
death row, but hasn't executed anyone since 1963. It would become the 
first state to abolish its death penalty by legislative action since 
1965, when both Iowa and West Virginia repealed their capital 
punishment statutes.

At today's 2 1/2-hour Assembly hearing, 21 people testified on the 
repeal, including Sharon Hazard-Johnson, whose parents were murdered 
in Pleasantville. She said said the problem is not with the death 
penalty, it's lack of enforcement.

"Enforce the law, that's all you have to do," she said. "It's easy to 
come out and say don't execute."

Read more in Tuesday's Star-Ledger.


and the NY Times writes:

December 11, 2007
New Jersey Moves to Abolish Death Penalty
By JEREMY W. PETERS

TRENTON, Dec. 10 * The New Jersey Senate voted Monday to make the 
state the first in the country to repeal the death penalty since the 
United States Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976 and 
established the nation's current system of capital punishment.

Passage in the Senate was seen as the bill's biggest obstacle, and in 
the end it was approved 21 to 16, receiving the bare minimum number 
of votes required.

Legislators on both sides of the debate expect the measure to pass 
easily on Thursday in the Assembly, where the Democrats enjoy a 
50-to-30 majority, .

Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, has 
repeatedly said he would sign a measure ending executions..

For those opposed to capital punishment, New Jersey's repeal would 
represent a victory that has so far eluded them in the modern history 
of the death penalty.

Though legislatures across the country have tried to abolish capital 
punishment since 1976, none have succeeded. This year alone, the 
legislatures in Nebraska, Montana, Maryland and New Mexico have 
debated bills to repeal their death penalties, but each of those 
measures failed, often by a slim margin.

So far, opponents of the death penalty have succeeded only through 
court rulings, like a decision declaring New York's capital 
punishment statute unconstitutional, or through moratoriums imposed 
by a governor, like in Illinois and Maryland.

"What New Jersey is going to do is have a Legislature-initiated 
repeal, and that's different," said Franklin E. Zimring, a law 
professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been 
critical of American capital sentence laws. "This is a degree of 
legislative action in the undoing of the death penalty which is a 
fairly significant step forward."

Opponents of the death penalty said today that they hoped that New 
Jersey's action would re-energize movements in states that have 
recently voted down abolition bills and serve as a catalyst for other 
states to revisit their capital punishment laws.

"Today New Jersey can become a leader, an inspiration to other 
states," said Senator Robert Martin, a Republican.

Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to 
Abolish the Death Penalty, said, "The New Jersey Legislature did the 
right thing. And we think we'll be seeing more state legislatures 
saying, 'we don't want the death penalty.' "

While the Senate vote mainly broke down along party lines, four 
Republicans did break from the party leadership and vote for the 
bill. Three of them * Mr. Martin, James J. McCullough and Joseph A. 
Palaia * will not be returning to the Senate when the new Legislature 
is seated next month.

Earlier in the day, legislation to replace the death penalty with 
life in prison and no chance of parole was approved by the General 
Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee.

Because the vote was taken during a lame-duck legislative session, 
legislators who may have otherwise voted against the bill were 
afforded some political cover *a factor that probably tipped the 
balance. Mr. McCullough said today that he arrived at his decision 
over the summer after meeting with law enforcement officials and the 
family of a murder victim. "That's the right thing to do. I'm an 
outgoing senator," he said.

Opponents of the bill were sharply critical of Senate Democratic 
leaders for scheduling a vote during a lame-duck session, when issues 
of such serious moral and political importance are not usually debated.

"Why not let this go to the new session?" asked Senator Robert W. 
Singer, a Republican.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/nyregion/11cnd-death.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

**********

paz!

--abe