by I was proud to be a resident of the State of New Jersey yesterday as Governor Corzine signed into law the abolishment of capital punishment.
New Jersey is the first state since 1976 — when the Supreme Court reinstalled capital punishment as an option — to legislatively abolish the death penalty. New Jersey hasn’t murdered any inmates since 1963 even though eight people were on death row. A State is required to be better than its people.
Currently, 36 other states currently kill their citizens. State-sponsored executions have always been an anathema to freedom loving people who rebel against heightened immorality, unfair administrative convictions, and a frustrated and broken system of justice that chooses death over life out of desperation and not need. The death penalty deterred nothing. Now New Jersey will provide a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and that policy is not only a moral victory, but a win for science as well.
With the rise of DNA testing, and inmate exoneration, current “death sentences” have been, and shall be, repudiated, with genetic evidence. This month alone, two people in other states had their death sentences overturned, and in one case the defendant was found “not guilty” after a new trial. When a State wrongly executes someone based on bad information or by using outdated technology — bits of the living die as well.
Now, with New Jersey’s death moratorium, all avenues of protection are preserved in the name of human justice and that is something every citizen of the world must celebrate.
This is excellent news – I have long argued that the state should lead way – by example.
I hope many more states follow this example.
They talked about this on the news briefly last night and I immediately thought of you. “David is going to be chuffed,” I thought, “this is just the direction New Jersey needs to go.”
Hi Nicola!
Does the UK kill its citizens?
In the NYTimes they praised the NJ decision — explaining why NJ no longer belongs in the company of “death penalty” countries like Iran, North Korea and China — heck, yeah! 😀
Chuffed is right, Gordon! 😆
I’ve been waiting to write about this until it finally became law. Corzine is finally getting some game. I think his car accident really took a lot out of him. Now he’s beginning to deliver on the promise of his leadership. It’s a great day to be in New Jersey.
The death penalty was suspended for murder in the UK in 1965 for a period of five years. It was abolished altogether in 1969.
However you could still receive the death penalty for the following ( Date finally abolished in brackets afterwards.)
Treason (1998),
Piracy with violence (1998),
Causing a fire or explosion in a naval dockyard, ship, magazine or warehouse (1971),
Espionage (1981)
Certain crimes under the jurisdiction of the armed forces, such as mutiny (1998).
Hi Nicola!
Fantastic information, thank you!
Why was 1998 such a watershed year for life in the UK?
Finally good news for the holidays. NJ did right. Anti-abortion people won’t like it. They want to save a fetus but kill the adult.
Yipes, Karvain! That’s a blunt statement but a good point, I guess. It is fascinating how many fundamentalists want to preserve the “life” of the “unborn fetus” but they do not generally have the same compassion for those sitting on death row. I wonder why?
Maybe babies are cuter. Texas can’t wait to kill people.
Speaking of Texas… here’s their ugly List of State Death, Karvain:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/executedoffenders.htm
Four killed in August.
Three in September.
Another scheduled for February.
We voted to ratify the 6th protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“Protocol 6 – death penalty
Requires parties to restrict the application of the death penalty to times of war or “imminent threat of war”.
Beautiful.
That’s the the way it should be, Nicola. Let the people choose life over killing.
There is an excellent map here which shows who does and who doesn’t use the death penalty.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/executh.htm
Great map, Nicola!
I wish we could see the bits of blue in the USA on the state level, though.
It is dated 2006 – hopefully they will start updating it now.
Gosh, that would be great, Nicola! The more we swing to life and living and less on being revengeful and bloodthirsty — the better the whole of the world becomes.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Maybe we should start a “let us follow NJ and turn this whole Map Blue” campaign.
Yeah! I love that idea, Nicola!
Very surprised at the lack of comments on this one – I would have thought the whole state would be celebrating.
Hi Nicola —
We’re in the holiday doldrums — plus, I read somewhere that over 56% of Americans support the death penalty… so most people don’t support the New Jersey mission…
The holiday doldrums have started early then!
I expect they are all out at their office parties and not in the office surfing while they are at work !
56% – there is a lot of work to do then ………. sighs
Yes, these two weeks Christmas/New Years are dull as are the two weeks around the 4th of July. The last week of August is also quiet.
People are under the wrong assumption that the death penalty protects them and deters murder — neither are true.
We need to liven things up then !
And those people need educating 😉
Yes, I know! They’re frightened! They want guns to protect them and God to save them and the state to kill all other threats to family values!
The trouble is the state can’t do that – and the sooner they realise that the better.
As my grandmother would say – “What is the world coming to?”
Yes! The state can provide for the general welfare — but to police behavior to the degree of killing is beyond any sense of formal duty or protection of vital interests.
The world is coming to an end, I fear!