






| |
The death penalty
Developments during 2007

Sponsored link
2007 developments:
 | 2007-JAN-02: NJ: The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission
recommends end to death penalty: The Commission issued a report
concluding that executions in the state serves no legitimate penological
intent. They recommend that the state abolish the death penalty and replace
it with life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 1
|
 | 2007-JAN-26: MD: Maryland may be next New England state to abolish death
penalty: A previous governor, Parris Glendening (D), had
established a moratorium on executions during the early 2000s. He was
replaced with Governor Robert Ehrlich Jr (R) in 2003 who reinstated
executions. Also in 2003, the University of Maryland released a study
indicating racial bias in sentencing. A murderer of a white person was twice
as likely to get a death sentence than a murderer of a black person.
Recently. the Maryland Court of Appeals terminated the use of
executions by lethal injection because of concerns that the procedure might
constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Now, State Senator
Lisa A. Gladden (D-Baltimore) and Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg,
(D-Baltimore), are sponsoring bills to end the state's death penalty and
replace it with with a prison sentence of life without parole. Governor
Martin O'Malley said that he would sign such a bill into law if approved by
the General Assembly. He said: |
"We waste a lot of money pursuing a policy that doesn't work to
reduce crime or to save lives, but we could be putting that money into
crime reduction. I'm much more in favor of life without parole."
There are six convicts on death row at the present time whose lives are
at stake. 2
 | 2007-AUG-22: TX: Texas executes 400th
person since 1982: Johnny Ray Connor was executed for the murder of a
grocery clerk during a failed robbery in 1998. He was the 400th person to be
executed by the state since Texas resumed capital punishment in 1982. About
17 opponents of the death penalty gathered in Houston to protest the
execution. Hooman Hedayati, of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty
said: "It's the 400th execution in Texas. That's really important because it
shows how Texas executes people. It needs to stop. It's a barbaric
practice." 3
|
 | 2007-NOV-1: Canada: Strong opposition to
death penalty: Canada abolished the death penalty in 1967 in spite of
strong public support in favor of continuing executions. Ever since, the
Federal government has gone to bat for Canadian citizens on death row in
foreign countries. They have tried to trade their death sentence for life
imprisonment in Canada. This policy came to a crashing halt on NOV-1 when
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced that the Federal government
would no longer seek clemency for Canadians on death row if they had been
convicted in "a democratic country that supports the rule of law."
A Canadian Press- Decima survey taken a few days later found that 50% of
those sampled opposed this policy, whereas 43% supported it and 7% were
undecided. As expected, younger, female, and urban voters and those not
supporting the Conservative Party were more likely to be against the
government's position. Prime Minister Harper has stated that he does not
plan to bring back the noose in the future.
4
|
 | 2007-DEC-17: NH: New Jersey abolishes death
penalty: New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine signed a bill that replaced
the state's death penalty with life in prison and no possibility of parole.
New Jersey became the first U.S. state to abolish the death penalty in 40
years. The bill had passed the legislature with the vast majority of
Democrats voting in favor, and Republicans voting against. 5
More details
|
 | 2007-DEC-18: World: The UN General assembly
calls for a moratorium on the death penalty: The United Nations passed a
non-binding resolution promoting a worldwide moratorium on the use of the
death penalty. The vote was 104 to 54, with 29 abstentions. The U.S. joined
with a number of dictatorships including Syria, Iran and China to vote
against the resolution. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the vote as
"a bold step by the international community." Amnesty
International and Hands Off Cain, both of which oppose the death
penalty, were also pleased. 6 |

Sponsored link:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission Report," 2007-JAN, at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ This is a PDF file.
- Brian Witte, "Maryland considers repeal of death penalty," The Washington
Times, 2007-JAN-26, at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/
- Rosanna Ruiz, "Texas executes 400th person since 1982," Knight Ridder
Tribune, 2007-AUG-23, at:
http://www.romingerlegal.com/
- "50% oppose death-penalty policy shift, survey finds," The Toronto Star,
2007-NOV-13, Page A21.
- Tom Hester, Jr., "Some Decry N.J. Death Penalty Abolition," Associated
Press, 2007-DEC-18, at:
http://ap.google.com/
- "UN General Assembly passes worldwide death penalty moratorium," Jurist
Legal News & Research, 2007-DEC-18, at:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/

Copyright © 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
First posted: 2007-JAN-28
Last updated: 2016-JAN-19
Author: B.A. Robinson


| |
Sponsored links
|