The findings are in and now it will be up to the state Legislature. The special commission empaneled to review the state’s capital punishment statute will recommend abolition of the death penalty.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, found no compelling evidence that New Jersey’s death penalty, which has not been used in more than four decades, serves any purpose. It also found the death penalty costs taxpayers more than paying for prisoners to serve life terms without parole.
“There is increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency,” the report states.
A second story, filed by the Ledger staff, offered this:
With one dissenting vote, the 13-member commission found capital punishment serves no legitimate penological interest, is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency, is not worth the risk of “an irreversible mistake” and costs more than incarcerating murderers for life.
The commission said the savings from replacing capital punishment with life imprisonment without parole could not be quantified, but recommended they be used to provide services and benefits to survivors of murder victims.
This is pretty much what I and other opponents of the death penalty have been saying for years.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 