Both the House and Senate voted to abolish the state's death penalty, but its future is still very much in doubt.
The bill that would get rid of Connecticut's death penalty will soon will be sitting on the desk of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has repeatedly said that she will veto the bill because the death penalty is a strong deterrent to serious crimes.
Tuesday, yet another news conference was held, urging Rell to sign the bill that would repeal the death penalty law.
Law enforcement officials , including former police officers, former prosecutors and former corrections officers, attended and said the death penalty is not an effective instrument, it fails to deter crime and wastes valuable resources.
They also said it's an empty promise to victims' families because the state rarely carries out an execution.
Republican Sen. Len Fassano, however, said the death penalty should remain on the books. It's unfair to say it's not a deterrent, he said. With the exception of Michael Ross, no one has been put to death in more than 40 years in Connecticut. Ross, he said, wanted to die, so we don't know if it's a deterrent or not.
