Preview – Lesniak-Turner Bill To Abolish Death Penalty Before Judiciary Panel

TRENTON – Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) announced today that the State Senate has scheduled a floor vote for Monday, December 10, to consider a bill that would eliminate the death penalty in New Jersey and replace it with life in prison without parole.

Bill S-171, sponsored by Senators Ray Lesniak (D-Union), Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) and Nia Gill (D-Essex, Passaic), cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee yesterday after having cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer and prime sponsor of Senate Bill 171, which eliminates the death penalty in New Jersey and replaces it with life without the possibility of parole, made the following statement today following the signing of the bill into law:

“The death penalty made our state weaker, not stronger, and certainly not safer. Capital punishment is rooted in a desire for revenge, rather than a sense of justice.

“When I sponsored the measure that created the Death Penalty Study Commission, I knew that the findings of that commission would one day lead to today’s action by the Governor.

TRENTON – Senator Ray Lesniak, sponsor of S-171/2471, the bill that would eliminate the death penalty in New Jersey and replace it with life in prison without parole, made the follow statement today before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee:

“A few months ago I hosted a reception at my home in Elizabeth to welcome back Brian Halsey to the community. Brian spent 19 years in prison for murdering an 8 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. The boy was sexually assaulted, large nails were hammered into his brain and his face was slashed with scissors. The girl was brutally raped, beaten, and strangled to death. He confessed to the crime and failed a polygraph test.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, made the following statement today as the Senate Judiciary Committee considered his bill, S-171, to ban the death penalty in New Jersey:

“Three years ago, I introduced legislation to abolish the death penalty to ensure that the system of justice administered by our State is effective, consistent, and just.

TRENTON – Senator Ray Lesniak, sponsor of S-171/2471, the bill that would eliminate the death penalty in New Jersey and replace it with life in prison without parole, made the follow statement today on the floor of the Senate:

“We shouldn’t have the death penalty unless we’re going to use it. And we shouldn’t use it if there is a chance of executing an innocent person.

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, prime sponsor of S-171, the legislation that would replace the death penalty in New Jersey with life in prison without parole, made the follow statement today after the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the bill:

“As the sponsor of the legislation which created the Death Penalty Study Commission, I wholeheartedly support this bill which contains the recommendations made by that commission.

TRENTON – Senator Ray Lesniak, sponsor of S-171/2471, the bill that would eliminate the death penalty in New Jersey and replace it with life in prison without parole, made the following statement today as Governor Jon Corzine signed the bill into law:

“In 1982, I voted to reinstate the death penalty in New Jersey. Today, I’d like to thank some folks who helped correct that mistake.

“First, I want to thank Senator Martin and his Republican colleagues, Senators Allen, Palaia and McCullough, for their support, along with Assemblymen Bateman, Blee and Rumpf. It’s not often we vote our conscience in the Legislature. We should do it more often.

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner today welcomed Senate Judiciary Committee approval of her bill to end the use of the death penalty in New Jersey and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without parole, saying that, “The Legislature can not move quickly enough to get the death penalty ban on the Governor’s desk.”

“The death penalty is not only barbaric, but it’s wasteful and ineffective. I am proud that New Jersey is quickly moving forward to end the chance of this senseless punishment being used in our state,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer.

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, prime sponsor of S-171, the legislation that would replace the death penalty in New Jersey with life in prison without parole, made the follow statement today after the Senate approved the bill:

“New Jersey has long struggled with the question of whether we wanted, needed or could afford to have the death penalty in our state.

“In the past, both sides of the debate have relied on arguments based on emotion to make their case, trying to back up their points with anecdotal evidence as to the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the death penalty. More often than not, the two sides would just shout past each other.