Death Penalty
The Death Penalty The death penalty is one of the most debated topics in the nation. ... In 1996, thirty eight states, including New Jersey legalized the death penalty. Today there are about 3,000 people in “death row. ... From 1709 to 1893, death was mandatory upon conviction of murder. Under New Jerseys first comprehensive criminal legislation, which was passed in 1796, death was the penalty for burglary, treason, petit treason, rape, arson, robbery and forgery. By the end of the nineteenth century, the death penalty was limited to willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder. In 1916, the legislature further amended the death penalty statute to permit juries to choose a sentence other than death when sentencing a person for first-degree murder. ... , 1994) In 1972,the New Jersey Supreme Court realized that New Jerseys death penalty statute was unconstitutional under federal law. Later that year, the death penalty was abolished throughout the nation. ... Following the judicial elimination of the death penalty in New Jersey, there was no death penalty for ten years. ... , 1995) In 1982, New Jersey reenacted the death penalty. People as young as 18, are eligible for death sentences. ... Ramseur, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld New Jerseys death penalty statute. Since the 1982 reinstatement of capital punishment, however, the New Jersey judiciary has been less than an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty. The Court reversed twenty-seven death sentences before affirming a capital conviction in 1991. The Supreme Court has reversed 37 of the 59 death sentences imposed since 1982. ... , 1995) Despite the fact that they are "death qualified," New Jersey juries overall have not supported the death penalty. Since 1982, there have been approximately 400 capital charges, 181 trials, and 59 death verdicts on 51 defendants. Yet there are just 16 defendants on death row awaiting exhaustion of their appeals and execution. ... , 1994) No executions have occurred under the current death penalty statute, but New Jersey is moving steadily forward towards executing the first prisoner in nearly forty years. New Jersey’s qualifications for the death penalty are not as unreasonable as they once were. Now to be eligible for the death penalty in New Jersey, you have to kill a police officer, be involved a contract murder, sexually assault and kill a child under 14, kidnap and kill, commit treason against the United States, perpetrate a severe and heinous crime, perform a felony-murder and commit multiple murders at one time. ... One of the major arguments that these supporters express is that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime. They argue that if the death penalty is legalized and practiced, it will discourage others from committing a crime. ... Murderers are usually not influenced by the death penalty as a punishment, since they carefully plan their murders thinking that they will not get caught.