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Challenging Connecticut's Prospective Death Penalty Repeal

Diane Orson
/
WNPR

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/do%20130423%20death%20penalty%20arguments.mp3

Connecticut’s Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty repeal. The law ends capital punishment for future crimes only.

Connecticut repealed the death penalty last year, but ten men who were on death row before the law passed still face execution.

Assistant Public Defender Mark Rademacher told the court that is unconstitutional.  

"Once the legislature has said no more death penalty we should all be able to agree that we don’t make decisions on who lives and who dies based upon something as arbitrary as the date of the repeal."

Rademaker acknowledged that new laws must draw the line somewhere.

"That may be tolerable in all other areas of legislation, but it's not tolerable when you’re dealing with the death penalty, because there are special rules that apply to capital punishment that require the distinctions to be moral and meaningful and related to the crime and the offender."

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Harry Weller argued that the court should either uphold or invalidate the entire thing, "Because you can’t separate it. You can’t make those legislative choices. Those are for another constitutional branch of government - elected representatives of people of the state."

Weller said the debate about the death penalty is political and Connecticut has done something unusual by acting incrementally to end capital punishment.  He said legislatures around the country are watching.  

A ruling is expected in the coming months. 

Diane Orson is a special correspondent with Connecticut Public. She is a reporter and contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories have been heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Here and Now; and The World from PRX. She spent seven years as CT Public Radio's local host for Morning Edition.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.