In May, several state senators, encouraged by the vote...

In May, several state senators, encouraged by the vote in the Nebraska legislature to suspend executions for two years, urged Pennsylvania to adopt a similar measure and commission a study on whether condemned prisoners receive adequate legal counsel and whether race is a factor in sentencing. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Edward W. Helfrick, R-Columbia, was defeated, as was a bill to abolish the death penalty proposed at the House by Rep. Michael Horsey, D-Philadelphia.