[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----DELAWARE

[Rick Halperin]

May 13


DELAWARE:

Death Penalty Repeal Bill Fails to Clear House Committee



A bill to abolish Delaware's death penalty has failed to clear a House 
committee after winning narrow passage in the Senate last month.

After a 2 1/2 hour hearing Wednesday, members of the House Judiciary Committee 
voted 6-to-5 not to send the bill to the full House.

Supporters of the bill argued that the death penalty is racially unfair, 
costly, morally wrong, and ineffective as a deterrent to crime. Opponents 
argued that capital punishment is justified as a form of punishment for 
1st-degree murder.

The chief House sponsor of the bill conceded in advance that it probably would 
not clear the committee, and that he plans to take the politically risky option 
of trying to suspend rules and bring the bill straight to the floor, perhaps as 
early as Thursday.

(source: WBOC news)

*******************

Committee votes down death penalty repeal----In 6-5 vote, House fails to 
release bill

By a vote of 6 to 5, the House Judiciary Committee failed to release a bill 
that would have repealed the death penalty in Delaware.

The 11-member committee is made up of 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans, and the 
vote came after nearly 1 hours of public testimony.

The legislation would end capital punishment in Delaware, except for the 15 
inmates already convicted and sentenced to death row. If passed, Delaware would 
become the 19th state without the death penalty.

Senate Bill 40 was introduced March 18 by Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, and 
mirrors a 2013 bill she sponsored that passed the Senate 11-10. Last year's 
bill also died in committee.

By an 11-9 vote, Senate Bill 40 was voted through the state Senate, April 2.

(source: CapeGazette.com)