Letter of the week, 12/17/07

[David]

Death penalty
Editor:
Recently, the New Jersey General Assembly voted in favor of a bill to abolish the death penalty, and the governor has said that he will sign it. New Jersey’s Death Penalty Study Commission found that capital punishment is a failed public policy that has diverted resources from victims’ services and from measures that effectively prevent crime.

Experts say that New Jersey and Connecticut can be seen as “twin states” in terms of processes and outcomes regarding capital punishment.

Throughout this country, a significant number of innocent people have been wrongfully sentenced to death. Records show that 126 people have been exonerated from America’s death rows, and 26 of the 36 remaining death penalty states have had at least one person who had been wrongfully sentenced to death and was exonerated before the sentence could be carried out.

The abolition of the death penalty in New Jersey follows a trend that shows a decrease in the numbers of executions and death penalty prosecutions in this country. However, with 133 nations having abolished the death penalty completely, we are among a relatively small minority that has not. In fact, out of more than 200 nations in the world only 26 nations have executed any one person in the last year.

Many experts think that it is only a matter time before the death penalty will be completely abolished. I hope that the example set by New Jersey will prompt Connecticut’s legislators to follow this lead and to abolish the death penalty sooner rather than later. For more information contact the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty at www.cnadp.org.

DOROTHY DRUFVA, CHESHIRE

[eds]

So much for solving prison overcrowding.

What we need to do is work on developing better science around proving guilt beyond anyone's doubt so that innocent people are not killed and guilty people do not re-offend.

I think its ironic that in a state where most of us find self-defense using deadly force a reasonable way in which to ensure one's safety and the safety of one's family when confronted with deadly force, that we would condemn the death penalty as an inhumane method of permanently preventing more heinous crimes committed by the same assailants. As if these criminals could be rehabilitated?

To create a justice system in which we can be certain of one's guilt, and to prevent the needless repetition of crimes involving atrocities unmentionable, I say bring back the gallows!