USA - Connecticut. The General Assembly's Judiciary Committee voted in favor of a bill that would abolish the state's death penalty

The General Assembly's Judiciary Committee voted 24-19 in favor of a bill that would abolish the state's death penalty for all future cases and replace the punishment with life imprisonment the bill. Now, the vote awaits further legislative action by the state's Senate. The legislation has the support of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. In 2009, a death penalty repeal bill passed the legislature but was vetoed by then-Gov. Jodi Rell. Last year, a similar effort failed in the Senate due largely to the ongoing death penalty trial in a fatal Cheshire home invasion case. There are 11 inmates sitting on death row in Connecticut. The state has carried out only 1 execution in 51 years, when serial killer Michael Ross was administered lethal injection in 2005. (see also Feb. 22).