Today’s vote by the state Assembly follows Monday’s vote by the state Senate. Once Governor Jon Corzine signs this into law — which he will do, because he’s opposed to the death penalty — New Jersey will become the first state to abolish the death penalty since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976 (though a number of states have imposed moratoriums on executions).
The sentences of the eight men currently on New Jersey’s Death Row will be adjusted to the state’s new maximum penalty for capital murder, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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