Gov. John S. Corzine signed into law Monday a measure that abolishes the death penalty, making New Jersey the first state in more than four decades to reject capital punishment.
| Have they passed a law yet that sez murder victims don't have to stay dead? |
The bill, approved last week by the state's Assembly and Senate, replaces the death sentence with life in prison without parole.
| That's not so different from being dead and in the grave without possibility of parole. Except that when you're dead the governor can't change his mind and commute your sentence. And they don't have to feed you. |
The measure spares eight men on the state's death row. On Sunday, Corzine signed orders commuting the sentences of those eight to life in prison without parole. Among the eight spared is Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994. The case inspired Megan's Law, which requires law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living in their communities. |
