As Karl Keys predicted, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission has issued its report, calling for replacing the state's death penalty with the sentence of life without parole. Doug Berman has commentary at Sentencing Law and Policy:
It didn't take long for the new year to produce some capital punishment headlines. As detailed in this AP report, a special commission in New Jersey has sent a report to Gov. Jon Corzine and legislators saying the state "should abolish its death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."
And from that AP report:
New Jersey should abolish its death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, according to a special commission's report sent Tuesday to Gov. Jon S. Corzine and legislators.
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.
Corzine, a Democrat, opposes the death penalty. He is the first elected New Jersey governor to oppose it since Brendan Byrne, who left office in January 1982.
Again, the Commission website is here. New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has some initial commentary at its website.
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