New Jersey Death Penalty Moratorium
As of 2010, 15 states and the District of Columbia do not recognize the death penalty as a punishment for crimes. New Jersey is one of these states. After legal issues in 2004 and a moratorium in 2006, the state formally repealed the death penalty in 2007.
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History
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Six years after the United States Supreme Court said it was constitutional, New Jersey re-established the death penalty. The state chose to use lethal injection and death row at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
Legal Challenges
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In the early 2000s, the legality of New Jersey's method of execution was questioned. In 2004, a state appeals court ruled the method unconstitutional. A new procedural manual was written, but it was never finalized and expired a year later.
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2006 Moratorium
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The failed procedural manual was the start of the New Jersey death penalty moratorium that began in January 2006. The state legislature enacted the moratorium for a term of one year.
Law Repealed
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The year after the death penalty moratorium, the New Jersey repealed its death penalty altogether. Gov. Jon Corzine signed the bill into law and commuted the sentences of each of the eight men on death row. None will ever be able to leave prison, according to The New York Times.
Executions
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The last execution in New Jersey was in 1963, more than 40 years before the start of the moratorium. Ralph Hudson was executed for stabbing his estranged wife to death, according to The New York Times.
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References
- Photo Credit barb wire image by Albert Lozano from Fotolia.com
