USA - Connecticut. The Connecticut House of Representatives has passed House Bill 6578 that abolishes the death penalty

The Connecticut House of Representatives has passed House Bill 6578 that replaces the state's death penalty with a life sentence without the chance of parole. The bipartisan vote was 90 to 56. 26 of the 114 House Democrats voted against the repeal and five Republicans voted for the repeal. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee 24-13 on March 31 (see). Before today, a repeal had never passed in either the Senate or House. The bill next goes to the Senate and could eventually tempt a veto from Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who repeated her support for capital punishment this week as the House prepared for the debate. The bill would apply only to crimes committed after the bill becomes law and would not impact those already on death row. Today is the 4^th anniversary of the May 13, 2005 death by lethal injection of serial killer Michael Ross, the 1st New England execution in 40 years.