#15 Connecticut Bans the Death Penalty
No more executions in Connecticut! In a close 4-3 vote, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was considered cruel and unusual punishment under the constitution. It should be noted that a law had been passed in 2012 that abolished corporal punishment, but allowed its use for crimes committed before the law was passed. This was designed as a compromise in order to execute two notorious killers, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky. You can read more about their crime here, but it was pretty horrific. The majority of the court essentially said that they could not enforce the death penalty after it had already been deemed unconstitutional, the two men and others who were on death row will instead face lifetime sentences with no chance for freedom. Keep in mind that the legislation may overturn this ruling by adding an amendment to the state constitution that protects the death penalty.
Opponents are pretty pissed, accusing the court of taking on the role of policymakers, despite the fact that they literally were just doing their jobs. Chief Justice Chase Rogers said that the decision did not reflect the will of the people, citing a poll that found that 59% of registered voters in the state supported the death penalty. It was later noted that Rogers had previously scorned the accuracy of gaging the popular psyche using polls. So there's that.
The majority noted many reasons for their decision, including but not limited to a higher standard of decency, the high cost to taxpayers (yes, the death penalty is more expensive to the public than life in prison), and an inherent racial and classist bias within the system. All of these arguments have been used before by other states who abolished the death penalty.
So what's your take? I'm actually pretty neutral towards the death penalty. It's an interesting thing to me. Connecticut has only executed one man since 1960, and it was by the man's very own request. Hayes himself, in the case linked to above, tried committing suicide multiple times before stating that he would just let the state do it for him. Is it moral for the government to kill as punishment? Is life in prison really a more humane alternative? Should we let those convicted with life in prison the option of choosing death by injection? It's a lot to think about, and I'm not sure there's a right answer.
