Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 12, 2006 20:38:16 GMT -5
Death penalty debate heats up this week
The cost of the states seldom-used death penalty will dominate debate at
the Legislature this week as relatives of murder victims get their say.
A death penalty study commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday to take
testimony from witnesses, including relatives of murder victims. Officials
want to hear whether there is a major cost difference between the death
penalty and life in prison without parole.
The special commission formed last year has until mid-November to give
recommendations on whether New Jerseys capital punishment law needs to be
either revised or abolished. The state has 10 men on death row, but the
law that created the commission imposed a moratorium on executions until
60 days after the panel completes its work.
No execution was imminent. New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982
but hasnt used it since 1963.
Sharon Hazard-Johnson, whose parents were killed in their Pleasantville
home in 2001 by death row inmate Brian Wakefield, has been wary of the
commissions work.
"I am very concerned that this is a bid to abolish the death penalty, she
said.
Death penalty foes are hopeful that will happen.
New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty recently released a
report that detailed how 25 New Jerseyans were convicted of crimes they
didnt commit.
"Our state is not immune from the types of errors that result in an
innocent person being sentenced to die, said Celeste Fitzgerald, the
groups executive director.
As the commission debates the death penalty, property tax reform talks
also are to continue at the Statehouse, with lawmakers expected to discuss
regional taxation and shared services.
The committee mulling whether the state can save money by consolidating
its hundreds of local governments is slated to meet Wednesday to discuss
delivering local services on a regional basis.
Senate Majority Leader Bernard F. Kenny, D-Hudson, said the committee
studying if the states constitution needs amending to provide property tax
relief will consider whether New Jersey should replace local property
taxes with statewide or regional property taxes.
A statewide property tax has been considered for years in New Jersey, but
widely opposed, especially by shore communities with that tend to have
lower local property taxes than the rest of the state.
The committee studying school funding plans to study how state and federal
legal mandates influence school property taxes, while the panel studying
public worker benefits plans to study health benefits for government
workers.
(source: Trentonian)
The cost of the states seldom-used death penalty will dominate debate at
the Legislature this week as relatives of murder victims get their say.
A death penalty study commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday to take
testimony from witnesses, including relatives of murder victims. Officials
want to hear whether there is a major cost difference between the death
penalty and life in prison without parole.
The special commission formed last year has until mid-November to give
recommendations on whether New Jerseys capital punishment law needs to be
either revised or abolished. The state has 10 men on death row, but the
law that created the commission imposed a moratorium on executions until
60 days after the panel completes its work.
No execution was imminent. New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982
but hasnt used it since 1963.
Sharon Hazard-Johnson, whose parents were killed in their Pleasantville
home in 2001 by death row inmate Brian Wakefield, has been wary of the
commissions work.
"I am very concerned that this is a bid to abolish the death penalty, she
said.
Death penalty foes are hopeful that will happen.
New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty recently released a
report that detailed how 25 New Jerseyans were convicted of crimes they
didnt commit.
"Our state is not immune from the types of errors that result in an
innocent person being sentenced to die, said Celeste Fitzgerald, the
groups executive director.
As the commission debates the death penalty, property tax reform talks
also are to continue at the Statehouse, with lawmakers expected to discuss
regional taxation and shared services.
The committee mulling whether the state can save money by consolidating
its hundreds of local governments is slated to meet Wednesday to discuss
delivering local services on a regional basis.
Senate Majority Leader Bernard F. Kenny, D-Hudson, said the committee
studying if the states constitution needs amending to provide property tax
relief will consider whether New Jersey should replace local property
taxes with statewide or regional property taxes.
A statewide property tax has been considered for years in New Jersey, but
widely opposed, especially by shore communities with that tend to have
lower local property taxes than the rest of the state.
The committee studying school funding plans to study how state and federal
legal mandates influence school property taxes, while the panel studying
public worker benefits plans to study health benefits for government
workers.
(source: Trentonian)