New Jersey set to scrap death penalty

[NoGOPZone]

Source: Reuters via MSNBC

New Jersey is preparing to scrap the death penalty next week, becoming the first state to legislatively abolish capital punishment since the Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976.

State legislators will vote on Monday and Thursday on bills that would end the death penalty and substitute life without parole for the most serious crimes. Lawmakers said the measure is likely to be approved


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22133264/

[MADem]

1. Good show, NJ! nt

[Benhurst]

2. What? And abandoning the deterrent practiced by such progressive nations

as Iraq, Iran, China and, unfortunately, most of these United States?

[harmonicon]

7. This is just the shot in the arm the Jersey economy needs

most people do all of their murder-tourism abroad, because they know they won't be executed. Now those same murderers will spend their crime money in the good ol' USA. Oh, I'm joking. This IS a good thing. Governor Ryan was crook (he was a republican, so no surprise there), but putting a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois was a great thing. Lets hope this is a trend.

[kimmylavin]

3. Yay NJ!

As long as they stick with that "without parole" part...

[closeupready]

4. Good. I'm glad they are doing this.

There will ALWAYS be the possibility of error in the judicial process of convicting people of crimes, so there must never be an irreversible sentence given out, or at least not one as final as death.

[DLnyc]

8. Yes, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the error rate is often like 10 or 20%

or more. Much as we don't like to acknowledge it, our 'justice' system is generally VERY flawed.

[TommyO]

5. I'm proud of my birth state (and the state I still work in)

[JerseygirlCT]

11. Me too, TommyO nt

[the808]

12. me too!

i may be a wahine living in hawaii now, but i'll always be a jersey girl!

[flashl]

6. Good for NJ

[Ishoutandscream2]

9. Good on them

Now let's get rid of it in my home state. I know it's a stretch, but you never know.

[brentspeak]

10. As a NJ resident, I don't support abolishing the DP

This is not a state with a history of prosecutors abusing the death penalty. The death penalty is rarely pursued by NJ prosecutors in the first place. But that doesn't mean it's a smart idea to abolish a sentence that, for anyone knows, may very have prevented some killings in the past by giving potential murderers second thought. But soon, every criminal in the state will reading the huge headlines: "NJ abolishes death penalty".

Yes, I support keeping the death penalty on the NJ books.