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HARTFORD, Conn. — The days of the death penalty in Connecticut are virtually over after the state House of Representatives voted to repeal it Wednesday night.
The bill, which would replace capital punishment with life imprisonment without the possibility of release, passed by a vote of 86-62, and comes about a week after the State Senate approved the same legislation. The bill will now be sent to Gov. Dannel Malloy, who has already announced that he would sign it, a press release from his office said.
“When I sign this bill, Connecticut will join 16 other states and almost every other industrialized nation in moving toward what I believe is better public policy,” the governor was quoted as saying in the release.
State Rep. Pat Billie-Miller, D-145 Stamford, voted in favor of the repeal, saying that the death penalty does deter crime and is morally wrong, a press release from her office said. "It is fundamentally immoral for the state to take a life. Killing for killing is just plain wrong,” Billie-Miller, said in the release.
Comments (3)
The point is that those on death row are very likely to have their sentences commuted once Connecticut removes the death penalty from the books. Today, all the politicians supporting this dumb idea claim it won't happen, but defense attorneys predict otherwise when the condemned appeal in court. It won't take long for the other shoe to drop, and soon after, the taxpayers can subsidize the care and feeding of these vicious killers. That is the new definintion of justice and democracy in Connecticut. Bravo Malloy!
Well-said queequeg.
Do death row inmates really have all those privileges? I was under the impression that death row inmates are in solitary confinement, but that's just based on TV and movies so perhaps it's not reality.
How long now until there are candlelight vigils to commute the sentences of the Butchers of Cheshire, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky? Will we hear State Rep. Pat Billie-Miller explain to Dr. Petit, how justice is served by sparing these two fiends and their fellow murderers on death row? Maybe Gov. Malloy will visit one of the hand-wringing sessions and recount the brutal actions that befell the Petits in their home: how the two young daughters were raped, strangled, and set on fire; how their mother was likewise annihilated; and how Dr. Petit, had his skull fractured and, thrown down the cellar stairs and left for dead, crawled out of his burning house. I'm sure the Governor can justify to Mr. Petit that all of the pain he endures each and every day, all of the those days during two murder trials, will be alleviated by the "enlightened" repeal of our law. What a travesty,
Neither Gov. Malloy nor any of his supporters like Ms. Billie-Miller will ever offer any such justifications. They are the "masterminds", the "anointed", who know better than the people of Connecticut, who consistently support the death penalty by a wide margin. Concerning Hayes and Komisarjevsky, support is 76-18 percent favoring execution. Support for the death penalty in general, is at 65-23 percent. Is this respect for the will of the people?
Public opinion be damned. Brutal murderers will now be enjoying: weightlifting, TV, three-meals-a-day, medical care, library privileges, mail from friends and family, conversation, games of chess, clean clothes, the cold, crisp morning air, and the warmth of the sun. The families of victims will experience: betrayal, heavy hearts, lingering memories, self doubt, anger, and gnawing pain. The victims...will be silent in their graves.