The state is one of eight with a recent capital punishment...

The state is one of eight with a recent capital punishment law, but has not had an execution. Michael Ross, a death row inmate who has written many articles on the problems of the death penalty for national publications, lost his bid to have his death sentence restored without a hearing in 1998. The Connecticut courts had earlier overturned his death sentence because he had been suffering from mental illness at the time of his crimes. Ross had wanted to spare the victims' families the grief of attending another sentencing proceeding.