CT News Junkie posts, "Lawmakers, Activists Talk About How They Repealed The Death Penalty," by Christine Stuart.
There was no public bill signing and very little fanfare this year after a bill prospectively abolishing the death penalty was signed into law.
Getting such a large and some would argue important issue raised during a short session of the General Assembly is a Herculean task, but it’s even tougher when at least three Senators are still on the fence days before the vote.
So how did they do it?
Sen. Eric Coleman of Bloomfield and Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield of New Haven recounted the twists and turns leading up to this years vote at a “Drinking Liberally” gathering Tuesday in Windsor.
Coleman said there were some who were hesitant to raise the bill this year, but Holder-Winfield—as he was in 2009 when he got it passed only to see it vetoed by then Gov. M. Jodi Rell—was persistent.
“Believe it or not as long as the death penalty was an issue there were still people who professed to be on the fence about the issue,“ Coleman said.
Those fence-sitters caused Coleman to receive daily questions from his leadership about where certain Senators stood. He said leadership didn’t want to have Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman have to break a tie vote, even though she was prepared to do it if it came to that.
“We wanted it to be a Democratic initiative and the Democratic majority being responsible for the passage of the repeal bill,” Coleman said.
Coleman credited the 180 victims families who spoke out in favor of repeal. He also credited a visit to Connecticut’s death row arranged by Sen. President Donald Williams for the three Senators who were still on the fence.
Earlier coverage of the Connecticut repeal legislation begins at the link.
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