Perhaps lingering doubts about the recent fate of Stanley “Tookie” Williams Wikipedia link have given some legislators pause. The state of New Jersey has taken the unusual step of suspending executions. Newsday link
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey lawmakers voted Monday to suspend executions while a task force studies the fairness and costs of imposing the death penalty.
The measure now heads to Gov. Richard J. Codey for his signature. Codey has indicated he will sign it before leaving office on Jan.17.
During the pendency of the suspension, a panel will study various aspects of the death penalty including the impact upon family members of the victims.
A 13-member study commission will have until November to report on whether the death penalty is fairly imposed and whether alternatives would ensure public safety and address the needs of victims’ families.
Although New Jersey is not the first state to suspend the death penalty, it is the first to do it through legislation rather than by executive order.
New Jersey would become the third state behind Illinois and Maryland to suspend executions, but the first to do so through legislation. The others were done by executive order.
The legislation has received bipartisan support. And here is what one Republican had to say:
“In New Jersey, there has been a sea change in how people view the death penalty,” said Sen. Diane Allen, R-Burlington, who voted for the moratorium in the Senate. “We’ve heard about people who have been put to death and were then found to be innocent. We’ve looked at the cost, which is enormously more for someone on death row than for a person who’s imprisoned for life without parole.”
Well, after all, this is a Republican talking, so money issues can’t be completely forgotten. For most here, doing the right thing just because it is right is sufficient justification.
There have been other developments in this area.
A Texas study of DNA tests conducted by the Houston Police Department has found “severe and pervasive problems” Link with a number of cases including 3 death penalty cases.
An ongoing review of DNA tests conducted by the Houston Police Department has revealed “severe and pervasive problems” with the lab’s findings in more than two dozen cases, including three death penalty cases. The new report released by independent investigator Michael Bromwich, who is reviewing more than 1,100 Houston Police Department DNA cases analyzed between 1987 and 2002, also linked the DNA lab’s troubles to “very disturbing problems” within the Houston Police Department’s serology division during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The serology division, which analyzes blood typing, was the precursor of the police department’s DNA division.
A review of procedure is underway at this time.
Finally, China has been prompted to announce rerforms of its death penalty system upon fears of wrongful conviction/execution. Link
Amidst widespread suspicion that innocent people have been sentenced to death or executed, China has announced that reforming its death penalty system is a priority and it is implementing procedural changes to protect against wrongful convictions. In October 2005, the People’s Supreme Court announced that it would reverse a decision from the early 1980’s that gave final review on many death penalty cases to provincial high courts. Under the new policy, the People’s Supreme Court would reclaim responsibility for reviewing all capital cases.
The estimated numbers of executions are staggering.
Though the exact number of annual executions in China remains unknown, a high-level delegate to the National People’s Congress publicly estimated in 2005 that it was “nearly 10,000.” In 2004, Amnesty International documented 3,400 executions in China, but noted that the actual number was probably far higher.
Given China’s civil rights record, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for substantive change. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.
