[CUADPUpdate] Listen Live! NJ Senators weigh bill to outlaw execution

[Abraham J. Bonowitz]

Please excuse cross-posts

Greetings All,

It's a nail biter!  Listen to the NJ Senate Judiciary Committee 
hearing on the NJ DP Abolition Bill - Live as it happens.  The 
hearing is scheduled to begin at 10am eastern time US, but keep in 
mind that these things often start late, and we are aware that there 
are several unrelated matters for the committee to address which we 
expect will go quickly, and probably first.  That said, once it 
starts it should be *very* compelling.

You will hear:

Victims family members from both perspectives
The Exonerated
NJ DP Study Commissioners, including law enforcement for abolition
Academics & Legal Professionals on both sides
The Faith Community (Catholic & Lutheran Bishops expected)
Blowhard legislators and also legislators who bothered to read the 
report of the NJ DP Study Commission.
and more!

To listen, go to http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp

Scroll down to Senate Committees, and click on the appropriate link 
for the Judiciary Committee.

The DP part of the hearing is expected to go about 2 hours, but you never know.

Abolition is HAPPENING - be a part of it!

paz!

--abe

Abraham J. Bonowitz
Field Manager, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
abe at njadp.org  *  http://www.NJADP.org
mobile: 561-371-5204  *  office: 609-278-6719  *  fax: 609-278-6859
986 S. Broad St., Trenton, NJ  08611




Senators weigh bill to outlaw execution

Case could be affected by Va. Tech, Fort Dix
Thursday, May 10, 2007
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG
Star-Ledger Staff

When West Orange Police Chief James Abbott was asked last year to 
serve on a commission studying capital punishment, he supported it. 
But after reviewing the evidence, he came to this conclusion about 
the death penalty: "It really just doesn't work."

Abbott is expected to share that view today with the Senate Judiciary 
Committee as it considers bills to abolish New Jersey's death 
penalty, which has never been carried out since it was reinstated in 1982.

The senators also will hear from Robert Blecker, a professor at New 
York Law School, who plans to tell them that capital punishment is 
"sometimes uniquely the only appropriate response. The reality is 
life without parole is not adequate punishment in some cases."

The committee chairman, Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), said prospects 
for repealing the death penalty are "very good. I suspect there is 
genuine consensus in the Legislature that the time to abolish the 
death penalty has come."

But in the wake of the slayings at Virginia Tech and the arrest 
Tuesday of six men charged with plotting a terrorist attack on Fort 
Dix, "this may not be the best time politically to consider the 
issue," according to David Rebovich, a professor of political science 
at Rider University.

"We are a prime target for terrorism," said Sen. Gerald Cardinale 
(R-Bergen), ranking Republican on the committee. He noted that the 
death penalty law was expanded in 2002 to cover murders committed 
during terrorist acts.

"Now that we have just done that by an almost unanimous vote, why are 
we considering backtracking?" Cardinale asked.

Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-Union), another committee member, said the 
state "should not remove terrorists and others from having that 
penalty potentially applied to them."

The sponsor of a bill to abolish capital punishment, Sen. Raymond 
Lesniak (D-Union), said the Fort Dix terror case makes his job harder.

"Those people who are on the fence could be swayed not to support it 
for that reason. I think that would be very unwise," Lesniak said. 
"In the case of terrorism, it (the death penalty) can be a magnet. 
Terrorists want to be martyrs."

As an assemblyman in 1982, Lesniak supported reinstating the death 
penalty -- a vote he now regards as "a mistake." He said he hopes the 
United States will join the majority of nations that have abolished 
capital punishment.

Abbott had a different sort of conversion, one based on practicality 
rather than philosophy. If all nine men on New Jersey's death row 
were executed tomorrow, "I wouldn't lose any sleep over it," he said. 
"It's just not going to happen."

It certainly isn't going to happen during the administration of Gov. 
Jon Corzine, a death penalty opponent, Abbott said.

"He won't allow a bear hunt to occur," Abbott said. "Does anybody 
think he's going to allow an execution to occur? It's absurd."

In January, with one dissent, the 13-member commission on which 
Abbott served recommended abolishing the death penalty and replacing 
it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Abbott, who 
supports that recommendation, said he was swayed by the many 
relatives of murder victims who testified that the endless appeals in 
capital cases made their suffering worse.

"If I were killed, I wouldn't want my kids to go through that 
process," Abbott said. "I'd rather the killer got life without parole."

Cardinale said any decision to abolish capital punishment should be 
made by the voters, who in 1992 overwhelmingly approved a 
constitutional amendment stating that death is not "cruel and unusual 
punishment" when applied to certain murderers.

Sen. Robert Martin (R-Morris), who is "morally opposed" to the death 
penalty, said he is "very optimistic" that it will be repealed, but 
is unsure of when.

"There are some squeamish legislators who might prefer to deal with 
it after the November legislative elections are in," Martin said.

Robert Schwaneberg may be reached at (609) 989-0324 or 
rschwaneberg at starledger.com.