Lawmakers Debate Death Penalty Repeal Bill

Judiciary Committee will hold public hearing at 11am.

State lawmakers will hear opinions on a high-profile bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of release for certain murderers.

Members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee will hear arguments for and against the bill during what's expected to be a lengthy hearing on Wednesday.

Opponents of the bill argue that the death penalty serves an important purpose in the state, while supporters of repeal say the punishment unfairly ranks deaths and does not allow families of murder victims to properly heal.

Last year, repeal legislation failed in the Senate due to the ongoing death penalty trial in a fatal Cheshire home invasion case.

Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky are both on death row for killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he would sign legislation abolishing the death penalty for all future cases.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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