Thursday, December 23, 2004
Life and Death, Buried in the New York Tea Leaves...
NYS Speaker Hints Death Penalty May Be Passe?0 comments
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat from the old school, is nothing if not inscrutable. But merely raising a question is yet another indication that capital punishment is not the super-hot issue it was when crime dominated the headlines, both legislative chambers wanted to reinstate the death penalty and his support for it helped George E. Pataki defeat Mario M. Cuomo, a foe of capital punishment.
Today, with crime down, a nationwide debate about the effectiveness of the death penalty and the fairness of its application, and instances of DNA evidence clearing inmates, the climate has clearly moderated.
Mr. Silver said that he was not predicting how the Assembly would vote. Or whether it would vote at all. It can do as the Republican-led Senate has, revising the law to address the court's concerns. Or it can do nothing.
That would leave the law as is—without the death penalty, but with life without parole, a part of the 1995 law that withstood court scrutiny.
This is how Right-to-Life is defined in Blue states.
posted by Gotham 6:53 PM
0 Comments:
