The state is still reviewing the ruling to determine its next steps and how it affects the eight men.
death penalty
Posted inJustice
Connecticut’s sole supermax prison is closing. What comes next for the men who used to be on death row?
Should those confined to prison for the rest of their lives be held on “special circumstances,” or is incarceration enough?
Posted inJustice, Politics
Palmer overcomes GOP opposition, wins another term on high court
Justice Richard N. Palmer, author of state Supreme Court decisions that struck down the last vestige of capital punishment and legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut, was confirmed for a fourth and final eight-year term on the court Wednesday after a rare second-guessing of the court’s opinions and conduct by the General Assembly.
Posted inJustice
High Court reaffirms the end of Connecticut’s death penalty
The state Supreme Court declined Thursday to reverse its 2015 decision eliminating the last vestige of capital punishment in Connecticut – the sentences facing 11 men on death row when the legislature repealed the death penalty for future crimes. The 5-2 ruling means an end to the death penalty, a punishment the General Assembly repealed for future crimes in 2012.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A death penalty hypothetical for the Connecticut Supreme Court
Appellate judges are famous for asking hypothetical questions. They are a very important part of the oral argument process, as they help the judges understand how their decisions in particular cases may apply to future cases. Advocates rarely get to ask judges hypothetical questions, but I’m going to ask one anyway. It is directed to the esteemed justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court who [recently], in a 4-3 decision, abolished the death penalty. (I don’t expect an answer of course. This is just a thought experiment.)
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut death penalty ruling ends costly, ineffective policy
The Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling that our state’s capital punishment law is unconstitutional has fulfilled all of the objectives of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty. The ruling has put an end to a broken policy that prolonged the legal process, and as a result sometimes inflicted additional harm on murder victims’ families.
Posted inPolitics
Court invalidates death penalty, creates campaign issue
By striking down Connecticut’s last vestige of capital punishment, the state Supreme Court on Thursday provided an opportunity for politicians to use the death penalty as a wedge issue in races for the General Assembly in 2016.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Connecticut is OK with pot, medically or recreationally
Connecticut voters strongly support the state’s legalization of marijuana for medical treatment in 2012 and are open, by a closer margin, to allowing its recreational use, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.
Posted inPolitics
Death penalty repeal poses key decision for freshman
Theresa Gerratana sat unnoticed Monday night at the end of a bank of desks in a hearing room, a freshman senator overlooked by witnesses for or against the death penalty. Whether Connecticut keeps capital punishment is largely up to her. Elected three weeks ago in a special election, Gerratana would be the 18th senator to […]