The Peoples' Coalition For Justice And Humanity News Service
VOL 1 EDITION I
Winter
2008
WORLD
NEWS
By Carol Williams
PCJH President
December 15, 2007
Due to the constant pressure put on elected officials by social activists and concerned individuals the state of New Jersey in the United States of America recently voted to abolish the Death Penalty. The move was celebrated all over the world but no place more impressively than in the city of Rome where officials plan to light the Coliseum in tribute to the landmark measure. The decision was heavily supported by NJ state governor Jon Corzine (D) who promises to sign the law into effect by January.
It was a preponderance of evidence pointing to several major flaws in the US Death Penalty System that led to the law. Among those flaws are the cruel and unusual method of death and the executions of innocent people proven through new DNA technology.
Lethal Injection Table in a Death Chamber
The US Supreme Court abolished the Death Penalty on June 29, 1972 only to restore it on July 2, 1976. This new move was described as bold by PCJH Commentator, photographer and social activist Jayleen Joi Williams.
“It’s pretty courageous. By that I mean the fact that people like myself and all those others out there who just kept the pressure on, who kept the doorway open and the information flowing with little things like where and who to write to. A lot of people think that they cannot make a difference because they are just one person, but together we are not just a movement, we are a force to be reckoned with,” said Williams.
There are currently 8 prisoners on NJ’s death in the prison system. A family member of one of the victims was troubled by the new law saying that it left them feeling that justice is not being served.
“Imagine if it were one of your family members who was murdered, cut off in the prime of their lives. How would you feel? We are going to do whatever we can to convince the governor not to sign this law, because how are you going to control the criminal element without a death penalty. Prison is like boot camp to a lot of them. What else do we have to protect society from them,” a relative of a murder victim who requested to remain unidentified said.
But the record will show that the death penalty in itself does little to curb crime as many public figures have revealed.
“The death penalty does little to prevent crime. It’s the fear of apprehension and the likely prospect of swift and certain punishment that provides the largest deterrent to crime.”
-Frank Friel, Former Head of Organized Crime Homicide Task Force, Philadelphia, PA USA
“I think that the only purpose for the death penalty, as I see it, is vengeance-pure and simple vengeance. But I think that vengeance is a very personal feeling and I don’t think that it is something that civilized governments should engage in.”
-Janet Reno, former US Attorney General
“I am not convinced that capital punishment, in and of itself, is a deterrent to crime because most people do not think about the death penalty before they commit a violent or capital crime.”
-Willie L. Williams, former Police Chief of Los Angeles, CA USA
Evidentially, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission Report (NJDPS) released in January 2007 had similar findings. The report was submitted to Corzine, Richard J. Codey President of the Senate and Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., the Speaker of the General Assembly. The study revealed that there is no “compelling evidence” that NJ’s death penalty “rationally serves a legitimate penological intent.” It also revealed that the costs of the death penalty are greater than the costs of a life sentence without parole. The study also addressed the moral issue saying that NJ’s death penalty was inconsistent with the “evolving standards of decency.”
The study also revealed 3 other startling facts about the death penalty in the state of New Jersey.
(1) Abolition of the death penalty will eliminate the risk of disproportionality in capital sentencing.
(2) The penological interest in executing a small number of persons guilty of murder is not sufficiently compelling to justify the risk of making an irreversible mistake.
(3) The alternative of life imprisonment in a maximum security institution without the possibility of parole would sufficiently ensure public safety and address other legitimate social and penological interests, including the interests of the families of murder victims.
The study then clearly spells out its recommendations to the State of New Jersey.
“The Commission recommends that the death penalty in New Jersey be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, to be served in a maximum security facility. The Commission also recommends that any cost savings resulting from the abolition of the death penalty be used for benefits and services for survivors of victims of homicide.”
-New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission Report
The study went on to say that sufficient funds should be provided to ensure adequate services and advocacy for the families of murder victims.
Coliseum to Light In
Recognition of NJ Death Penalty Abolition
By Carol Williams
PCJH President
December 15, 2007
Due to the constant pressure put on elected officials by social activists and concerned individuals the state of New Jersey in the United States of America recently voted to abolish the Death Penalty. The move was celebrated all over the world but no place more impressively than in the city of Rome where officials plan to light the Coliseum in tribute to the landmark measure. The decision was heavily supported by NJ state governor Jon Corzine (D) who promises to sign the law into effect by January.
It was a preponderance of evidence pointing to several major flaws in the US Death Penalty System that led to the law. Among those flaws are the cruel and unusual method of death and the executions of innocent people proven through new DNA technology.
Lethal Injection Table in a Death Chamber
The US Supreme Court abolished the Death Penalty on June 29, 1972 only to restore it on July 2, 1976. This new move was described as bold by PCJH Commentator, photographer and social activist Jayleen Joi Williams.
“It’s pretty courageous. By that I mean the fact that people like myself and all those others out there who just kept the pressure on, who kept the doorway open and the information flowing with little things like where and who to write to. A lot of people think that they cannot make a difference because they are just one person, but together we are not just a movement, we are a force to be reckoned with,” said Williams.
There are currently 8 prisoners on NJ’s death in the prison system. A family member of one of the victims was troubled by the new law saying that it left them feeling that justice is not being served.
“Imagine if it were one of your family members who was murdered, cut off in the prime of their lives. How would you feel? We are going to do whatever we can to convince the governor not to sign this law, because how are you going to control the criminal element without a death penalty. Prison is like boot camp to a lot of them. What else do we have to protect society from them,” a relative of a murder victim who requested to remain unidentified said.
But the record will show that the death penalty in itself does little to curb crime as many public figures have revealed.
“The death penalty does little to prevent crime. It’s the fear of apprehension and the likely prospect of swift and certain punishment that provides the largest deterrent to crime.”
-Frank Friel, Former Head of Organized Crime Homicide Task Force, Philadelphia, PA USA
“I think that the only purpose for the death penalty, as I see it, is vengeance-pure and simple vengeance. But I think that vengeance is a very personal feeling and I don’t think that it is something that civilized governments should engage in.”
-Janet Reno, former US Attorney General
“I am not convinced that capital punishment, in and of itself, is a deterrent to crime because most people do not think about the death penalty before they commit a violent or capital crime.”
-Willie L. Williams, former Police Chief of Los Angeles, CA USA
Evidentially, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission Report (NJDPS) released in January 2007 had similar findings. The report was submitted to Corzine, Richard J. Codey President of the Senate and Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., the Speaker of the General Assembly. The study revealed that there is no “compelling evidence” that NJ’s death penalty “rationally serves a legitimate penological intent.” It also revealed that the costs of the death penalty are greater than the costs of a life sentence without parole. The study also addressed the moral issue saying that NJ’s death penalty was inconsistent with the “evolving standards of decency.”
The study also revealed 3 other startling facts about the death penalty in the state of New Jersey.
(1) Abolition of the death penalty will eliminate the risk of disproportionality in capital sentencing.
(2) The penological interest in executing a small number of persons guilty of murder is not sufficiently compelling to justify the risk of making an irreversible mistake.
(3) The alternative of life imprisonment in a maximum security institution without the possibility of parole would sufficiently ensure public safety and address other legitimate social and penological interests, including the interests of the families of murder victims.
The study then clearly spells out its recommendations to the State of New Jersey.
“The Commission recommends that the death penalty in New Jersey be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, to be served in a maximum security facility. The Commission also recommends that any cost savings resulting from the abolition of the death penalty be used for benefits and services for survivors of victims of homicide.”
-New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission Report
The study went on to say that sufficient funds should be provided to ensure adequate services and advocacy for the families of murder victims.