NEW JERSEY (USA). STATE ASSEMBLY VOTES TO END DEATH PENALTY

The New Jersey Assembly voted 44-36 to pass a bill replacing the state current death penalty with life imprisonment.
The bill now goes to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine, who is expected to sign it. The New Jersey Senate on December 10 voted 21-16 to pass a similar bill. If signed, the bill would make New Jersey the first US state to abolish capital punishment since the US Supreme Court reinstated it nationally in 1976.
Bill proponents, including Corzine, have argued that capital punishment spends more tax dollars than life in prison without parole, and say that capital punishment statistically does not deter homicide. A report released in January and endorsed by 12 of the 13 members of the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission concluded that there was "no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally serves a legitimate penological intent," although there was "increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency."