N.Y. should end death penalty

N.Y. should end death penalty

Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007

AT ISSUE: Follow N.J. panel's advice on capital punishment

A commission examining capital punishment in New Jersey has recommended that state abolish the death penalty.

We believe New York should follow that advice as well.

The foremost reason for abandoning the death penalty has always been clear: It's not the place of any court to take a human life.

But there's evidence a growing number of people see the death penalty as inhumane, inaccurate and ineffective. For example, the number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated.

From the 13-member commission's report to New Jersey lawmakers:

"There is increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency. The alternative of life imprisonment in a maximum security institution without the possibility of parole would sufficiently ensure public safety and address other legitimate social and penological interests, including the interests of the families of murder victims."

Inhumane

There has been strong support for capital punishment in Florida, yet former Gov. Jeb Bush suspended executions there after it took 34 minutes for one inmate to die from lethal injection. Federal judges have ruled that California and Missouri's lethal injection executions violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Inaccurate

Despite all the appeal opportunities awarded to those convicted of capital crimes, innocent people end up on death row. DNA evidence has exonerated death row inmates. A legal system committed to protecting the innocent cannot condone a practice that carries with it the very real possibility of murdering an innocent person.

Ineffective

Statistics do not support the idea that the death penalty deters crime. The crime rates in states with the death penalty are not lower (and are sometimes higher) than in states without it. With a statute that calls for life in prison without any possibility of parole, there is no reason to fear that those who commit the most heinous crimes will be freed.

New York's capital-punishment law was effectively suspended in 2004 by the state's highest court, which ruled parts of it unconstitutional. But it's time to officially rescind the death penalty and state firmly that New York does not support murder.