Execution

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), along with Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers [D-MI], Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott [D-VA], Rep. Anthony Weiner [D-NY] , Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX], and Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis [D-GA] today introduced the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act (H.R. 3986), which would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.

Under current law, an inmate on death row can be stranded with no procedural options to appeal a conviction, even if there is compelling new evidence that he or she is innocent.

The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act would:    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today vetoed HB 6578, An Act Concerning the Penalty for a Capital Felony, which sought to eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option in Connecticut.

A copy of the Governor’s veto message is attached.

June 5, 2009

The Honorable Susan Bysiewicz

Secretary of the State

18-20 Trinity Street

Hartford, CT 06106

Dear Madame Secretary:

I am hereby returning without my signature HB 6578, An Act Concerning the Penalty for a Capital Felony. This bill eliminates the death penalty as a sentencing option for crimes committed on or after the bill's effective date.    » read more »

May 28, 2009 -- (Lincoln, Neb.) -- Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman today signed a bill that makes lethal injection the method of execution in the state. The bill, LB 36, was sponsored by Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk.

“Nebraska needed a legal means of execution,” Gov. Heineman said. “There is broad support for the death penalty in our state and this issue needed to be resolved during this legislative session. I want to thank Speaker Flood for his work on this bill.”    » read more »

May 14, 2009 -- MONTGOMERY -- Alabama Governor Bob Riley on Thursday morning signed into law a bill that increases the number of people who can witness a state execution.

The new law increases from two to six the number of immediate family members of a crime victim who can witness the perpetrator’s execution. The bill also increases from two to six the number of immediate family members of the condemned inmate who can witness the execution.

The new law became effective with Governor Riley’s signature.

Source: Alabama Governor

March 19, 2009 -- TRENTON – New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today issued the following statement on the State of New Mexico repealing the death penalty.

“I want to commend Governor Richardson for signing legislation repealing the death penalty in New Mexico. Governor Richardson’s decision to abolish the death penalty in his state, regardless of his own personal opinion on the matter, demonstrates the true character of a leader.    » read more »

March 18, 2009 -- SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today signed House Bill 285, Repeal of the Death Penalty. The Governor’s remarks follow:

"Today marks the end of a long, personal journey for me and the issue of the death penalty.

Throughout my adult life, I have been a firm believer in the death penalty as a just punishment – in very rare instances, and only for the most heinous crimes. I still believe that.

But six years ago, when I took office as Governor of the State of New Mexico, I started to challenge my own thinking on the death penalty.    » read more »

16 April 2008 -- The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the most common method of lethal injection used for executions by the federal government and 36 states. The unsuccessful constitutional challenge to the three-drug lethal injection was brought by lawyers representing two men sentenced to die in the state of Kentucky.

Lawyers for the two convicted murderers at the center of the case argued that death by lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the U.S. constitution. The lawyers argued that the drugs are often administered by untrained officials who sometimes botch the executions, causing extreme pain and suffering.    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- Lincoln, Neb. - Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning commented today on a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld lethal injection as a legal method of execution in response to a challenge in another state.

Gov. Heineman said, “I find it encouraging that the United States Supreme Court has ruled Kentucky’s method of lethal injection as a constitutional means of execution.

“The ruling issued today is intricate and complex and I have asked Attorney General Bruning to conduct a careful, thorough and thoughtful review of this case in order to determine an appropriate course of action. I am not eager to call a special session and I will not make a final decision regarding a special session until this review is completed.”    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- JEFFERSON CITY - Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting a challenge to lethal injection, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, a strong supporter of the death penalty, today issued the following statement calling on the Missouri Supreme Court to immediately issue execution orders for all pending death penalty cases:

Lethal injection: Photo by Jessica Stacey (CC)    » read more »

April 14, 2008 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today spoke at the Legislative Abolition of the Death Penalty in New Jersey Conference to reflect on the process of abolishing the death penalty in the state. The conference was held at The Newark Club. The Governor signed legislation in December of 2007 ending the death penalty in New Jersey and today offered the following sentiments.

Electric chair used in Texas until 1954: Photo by Jessica Stacey (CC)    » read more »

Nebraska Ruling Brings US Closer to Ending This Inhumane Form of Execution in US

New York, February 8, 2008 – The Nebraska Supreme Court’s ruling today that use of the electric chair violates the state constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment is an important step toward eliminating inherently inhumane executions in the United States, Human Rights Watch said today.

Nebraska is the only state to use the electric chair as its sole method of execution; all other US death penalty jurisdictions use lethal injection.    » read more »

18 December 2007 -- The global campaign against the death penalty secured a landmark victory on Tuesday when the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the call for a worldwide moratorium (suspension) on executions.

In a landslide result, 104 UN member states voted in favour of the ground-breaking resolution. 54 countries voted against, while there were 25 abstentions.

Amnesty International welcomes this timely resolution, passed at the UN headquarters in New York City, as a clear recognition of the international trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine - Remarks as Delivered
December 17, 2007

Good morning everyone.

Thank you all for being here. Today, December 17th 2007, is a momentous day - a day of progress - for the State of New Jersey and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder.

Today, through my signature on this bill, New Jersey abolishes the death penalty as a policy of our state.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in New Jersey and replacing it with life imprisonment without parole. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to enact a law to end use of the death penalty since it was reinstated by the United States Supreme Court in 1976. To ensure that the intent of the legislation was fully carried out as to the eight remaining inmates on death row, on Sunday evening Governor Corzine commuted the sentences of those inmates to life in prison without parole.    » read more »

11/15/2007 -- Today's call for a global moratorium on executions by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee is an "historic resolution and major step towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide", Amnesty International said.

The landmark decision had cross-regional support and was co-sponsored by 87 states from around the world.

The resolution was adopted by 99 countries in favour, 52 against and 33 abstentions. The General Assembly is expected to endorse the decision in a plenary session in December.    » read more »