After years of unsuccessful efforts to pass similar legislation, the House of Representatives on Wednesday night sent a bill that prospectively abolishes the death penalty to a governor who is willing to sign it.

Continue reading "Death Penalty Repeal Headed to Governor’s Desk" »

Tags: death penalty repeal, abolition, Gary Holder-Winfield, Lawrence Cafero, vote, debate, Gerald Fox, NAACP, dh

Kenneth Ireland — the wrongly accused man who served 21 years in prison before being exonerated for the brutal rape and murder of a woman — could have been charged with the death penalty back in 1988, but he wasn’t.

Continue reading "Exonerated Prisoner Encourages House To Repeal Death Penalty" »

Tags: death penalty, Kenneth Ireland, exonerated, death row, inmates, prison, Gary Holder-Winfield, Donald Williams, dh

As Connecticut moves to abolish the death penalty, one survivor and victim voice is again being heard above all others’ combined: that of Dr. William Petit, whose family was the object of the horrific, brutal, deadly attacks in Cheshire.

Continue reading "Fellow Survivors Challenge The Petit Monopoly" »

Clearing its biggest hurdle, a bill repealing the death penalty passed the state Senate on a 20-16 vote shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday, with two Democrats and all 14 Republican voting against it.

Continue reading "Senate Passes Death Penalty Repeal With A Little Breathing Room" »

Tags: death penalty, senate, debate, repeal, Hugh McQuaid, connecticut, death row, cruel and unusual punishment, dh

Speculation around Wednesday’s Senate vote on the death penalty has largely centered on undecided Sens. Edith Prague, Carlo Leone, and Joseph Crisco. But a vote to repeal capital punishment will come from an unexpected source: Sen. Gayle Slossberg.

Continue reading "Sen. Slossberg To Vote For Death Penalty Repeal" »

Tags: Gayle Slossberg, death penalty repeal, Hugh McQuaid, dh

The state Senate is poised to raise a bill to prospectively abolish the death penalty during Wednesday’s session with the support of previously undecided Sen. Edith Prague.

Continue reading "Senate To Raise Death Penalty Repeal Wednesday" »

Tags: senate, edith prague, death penalty, andrew roraback, john mckinney, john kissel, dh

By the time the Judiciary Committee had finished meeting behind closed doors Monday, it had only four hours to work its way through a 64-bill agenda by its 5 p.m. deadline. By close of business, they’d gotten to 45 of them.

Continue reading "Speeding To The Finish Line; Most Bills Pass Judiciary" »

Tags: judiciary committee, JF deadline, Attorney general qualifications, adoption, drug enforcement, risk reduction, hugh mcquaid, dh

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy departed from his hands-off opposition to the death penalty Thursday, holding a press conference with NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous on his organization’s efforts to abolish it.

Continue reading "NAACP President, Malloy Meet On Death Penalty" »

Tags: Malloy, death penalty, Ben Jealous, NAACP, dh

The debate over whether Connecticut should have a death penalty is usually a morality discussion, but this week the Office of Fiscal Analysis threw a price tag on it.

Continue reading "The Cost of The Death Penalty" »

Tags: death penalty repeal, Gary Holder-Winfield, John Kissel, connecticut, dh

After hearing from an expert panel on corporate influence in elections, the chairs of Government Administration and Elections Committee said Monday they are unlikely to pass governor’s recommended changes to the state’s public finance system.

Continue reading "Committee Unlikely To Back Malloy’s Public Financing Proposal" »

Tags: election, campaign finance, gayle slossberg, russ morin, Citizens Election Program, dh