The Day newspaper in Connecticut publishes an editorial, "Stop charade, fully repeal death penalty."
When the General Assembly abolished the death penalty two years ago, this newspaper said the state should have the courage and consistency to outlaw government sanctioned killing in all instances, including the 11, now 12, men awaiting execution for death penalty crimes committed before April 25, 2012.
It remains our position that a state-sponsored execution disproportionately targets minorities, has no deterrent value, cannot be undone if there is a mistake and is a barbaric act that lowers the state to the level of the killer.
Now, we can add the botched execution in Oklahoma that has prompted several death penalty states to suspend executions until serious questions about lethal injection - the method of execution in Oklahoma and Connecticut - are resolved.
Then there is a practical problem. Connecticut has none of the three execution drugs required by state law to administer its leftover death penalty and can't legally get them.
AP reports, "Connecticut high court to hear death penalty case," by Dave Collins. It's via the an Francisco Chronicle.
The state Supreme Court has scheduled a rare summer special session to hear the death penalty appeal of Russell Peeler Jr., who ordered the 1999 killings of a woman and her 8-year-old son in Bridgeport.
The court was expected to hear Peeler's case last month, but it wasn't ready and had to be delayed, lawyers said. Justices occasionally hold special sessions when urgent issues arise and will hear Peeler's case on June 30.
The fates of Peeler and the other 10 men on Connecticut's death row hinge on a Supreme Court decision expected to be released soon in another case. The court is weighing whether the state's 2012 repeal of the death penalty for future murders violates the constitutional rights of those still condemned to die and whether it should apply to them as well.
Earlier coverage from Connecticut begins at the link. You can also jump to reporting on the impact of repeal on existing death sentences.
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