[FADPUpdate] Abolition Rising in NJ

[melliott3 at aol.com]

Friends,
Exciting news from New Jersey!
 
A vote is likely in the New Jersey Legislature in July on abolition of the Death Penalty.  Included below is a statement from New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP.org) sent by Abe Bonowitz.  He has played a key role in the continuing success of their efforts.  Those of us who know Abe are not surprised.  Congratulations all.
 
The findings of the Commission are even more relevant for Florida, which has the highest mistake rate in the nation and wastes considerably more resources on it's fatally-failed system.
 
We have the Florida Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection meetings coming soon.  Although their mission has been severely restricted by Gov. Bush, we are planning to make the most of this opportunity to spread the truth.
 
Shine the light,
 
Mark
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>From NY Times, January 2, 2007
New Jersey Panel Urges End to Death Penalty 
By LAURA MANSNERUS
TRENTON, Jan. 2 — Amid growing unease about capital punishment and a state moratorium on executions, a legislative commission recommended today that New Jersey become the first state in more than 35 years to abolish the death penalty.
 
With just one of its 13 members dissenting, the commission said there was “no compelling evidence” that the death penalty served a legitimate purpose and increasing evidence that it “is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.” The panel recommended replacing capital punishment with the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
 
The political climate in Trenton appears to be receptive. Gov. Jon S. Corzine said that “as someone who has long opposed the death penalty, I look forward to working with the Legislature” to carry out the recommendations.
 
Legislative leaders said there was ample support for repealing the law, and Senate President Richard J. Codey said he expected to call for a vote. Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, while supporting the committee’s findings, stopped short of calling for a vote, leaving the possibility that repeal legislation will remain locked in committee.
 
New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963, and its death row has shrunk to nine inmates. The death penalty had been suspended by the State Supreme Court since 2004 when the Legislature voted a year ago to extend the moratorium and establish the commission.
 
If the Legislature did abolish the death penalty, it would be the first to do so since the Supreme Court halted all executions in 1972 —after which 38 states rewrote their laws to reinstate the practice.
 
But a repeal would be in line with a nationwide retreat from executions, with the annual count declining by nearly half since 1999. Richard Dieter, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, attributed the hesitation to the wave of wrongful convictions exposed by DNA evidence.
 
“That is the wedge that has made the death penalty difficult to fix,” Mr. Dieter said. “It’s all related to the scientific revolution we’ve had in the last 10 years.”

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January 2, 2007                                                           

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                
For Information Contact: Celeste Fitzgerald 973-635-6396

                                                                                    

NJADP Statement on Release of
Death Penalty Study Commission Report 
 

Celeste Fitzgerald, Program Director of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, released the following statement today in reaction to the release of the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission’s Report: 

 

“The Report released today offers a complete and overwhelming indictment of New Jersey’s death penalty system, and should signal the closing chapter for this outdated, risky, resource-draining hoax on victims’ families.   
 
This Study Commission conducted a thorough, credible and transparent examination, and concluded that the death penalty in New Jersey is fatally flawed and should be replaced with the stronger and more certain punishment of life in prison without any possibility of parole.  
 
The message from this Report is clear: capital punishment has failed the people of New Jersey on every count, and the time has finally come for it to exist only in our history books.  It also highlights the needs of victims’ families, many of whom passionately testified that the death penalty system has too often ignored and hurt them and should no longer be supported in their name.
 
Over the course of six public hearings, the Commission heard from dozens of witnesses, including prosecutors, corrections experts, judges, police, community and religious leaders, exonerees, and average citizens.  The vast majority called for a swift end to the States’ two decades-long death penalty experiment.  
 
This Report confirms that the death penalty in this State costs more than life in prison without parole, is contrary to our evolving standards of decency, and carries with it the very real risk of executing an innocent person.   It also concludes that the alternative of life in prison without parole would ensure public safety.  
 
It is particularly important that the Commission recognized and highlighted the negative impact that the death penalty has on victims’ families.  Not only does the death penalty divert state funds away from victims’ services and additional law enforcement, but it puts victims’ families through extended grief from the long, drawn-out and very public trials and appeals process.  
 
The Commission has asked all the questions, reviewed all of the evidence, and issued an overwhelming verdict:  the time has come to finally end the death penalty and replace it with life behind bars without the possibility of parole.  We urge the Governor and the Legislature to answer this call.”  
 
NJADP has campaigned since 1999 for an end to the death penalty. It is the core group of more than 200 New Jersey organizations and 10,000 members representing a wide variety of groups and interests.  
 
SENT BY:

Abraham J. Bonowitz
Field Manager, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
abe at njadp.org  *  http://www.NJADP.org
 
***********************************************
 
 
BACKGROUND: ABOUT THE COMMISSION
 
¨      Study commissioners included a police chief, two prosecutors, including one representing the state prosecutor’s association, the attorney general, a former state Supreme Court Justice, representatives of victims’ organizations, religious leaders, and other legal experts.
¨      The 13-member Commission was empanelled as part of legislation that placed a one-year moratorium on executions in New Jersey pending the outcome of the study.
¨      The Commission held four months of public hearings from July through October 2006.  
¨      The Commission heard from more than four dozen witnesses including prosecutors, corrections experts, judges, police, religious and community leaders, exonerees, and average citizens.  
¨      The vast majority of witnesses painted a picture of a system that was broken. 
¨      More than a dozen murder victims’ family members and advocates testified that the death penalty hurts and divides surviving family members and diverts funds from victims’ services that they need.
¨      Over 80% of all witnesses testifying before the Study Commission called for an end to New Jersey’s death penalty.
¨      Throughout five public hearings, only seven persons spoke in favor of the death penalty.
¨      Even those few proponents revealed intense frustration with the current law and/or proposed changes.
 
BACKGROUND: ABOUT THE FINDINGS
 
¨      The report found flaws in a wide variety of areas, including:
o       The risk of executing an innocent person
o       Geographic disparities and uneven application
o       The negative impact on victims’ families
o       The high costs of the death penalty, over and above life without parole.
o       The death penalty is not a deterrent. 
¨      As a result of these flaws, the commission also found that support for the death penalty has dropped, and life without parole is a better alternative.
¨      The Commission’s final recommendations included:
o       New Jersey replace the death penalty with life without parole.
o       any cost savings resulting from the abolition of the death penalty be used for benefits and services for survivors of victims of homicide.
¨      The report is posted at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/njdeath_penalty.asp. 
 
 
Sent by:
 
Mark Elliott
Spokesman, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, FADP.org
mark at fadp.org
 

 

 
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