Thursday, May 21, 2009

New Jersey Death Penalty Study

In cooperation with Seton Hall Law School, the Stein Center for Law & Ethics - Fordham Law School, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the Capital Punishment Committee of the New York City Bar Association, the Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) is pleased to announce the Legislation, Litigation, Reflection, and Repeal: The Legislative Repeal of Capital Punishment in New Jersey Online Proceedings. These proceedings are available to all users at no charge and contain abstracts of the meeting's papers with links to the full text within the SSRN eLibrary.

In 1982 the New Jersey Legislature restored the death penalty, lifting the Furman stay of executions. 228 times prosecutors sought death. 60 times juries agreed, 57 cases were reversed at some point. 8 remained on death row at the time of repeal. None were executed.

On December 17, 2007, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill repealing the death penalty and replacing it with life imprisonment without parole for capital murder.

On April 14, 2008, principal actors in the 25-year drama gathered at Seton Hall Law School. The symposium reflected on the judicial, legislative, and popular efforts to sustain, limit, and ultimately abandon capital punishment. Five former Justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court (two of them former Chief Justices, and three of them former Attorneys General), leaders of the legislative effort, and members of the Legislative Study Commission which recommended repeal spoke. Former prosecutors and public defenders recounted the struggle in the courtrooms and on appeal. Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak presented a resolution by the Legislature honoring Celeste Fitzgerald and New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Gov. Corzine expressed his pride and personal commitment on the issue, urging others to follow New Jersey’s lead.

The proceedings and an introductory essay have been published by the Seton Hall Legislative Journal.


You can browse all Legislation, Litigation, Reflection, and Repeal: The Legislative Repeal of Capital Punishment in New Jersey abstracts in the SSRN database by clicking here: http://www.ssrn.com/link/Legis-Litigation-Reflect-Repeal.html

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