New Jersey lawmakers approved legislation this week to abolish the death penalty, poising the state to become the first in the nation since 1965 to repeal capital punishment.
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(Photo: AP Images / David Gard)New Jersey Assemblyman Christopher Bateman, R, 16th Legislative District, speaks at the state house in Trenton, N.J., Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. He co-sponsored a measure to abolish the state's death penalty. The New Jersey Assembly approved legislation Thursday to abolish the state's death penalty, making Gov. Jon S. Corzine's signature the only step left before the state becomes the first in four decades to ban executions.
The state General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, voted 44 to 36 on Thursday to repeal the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without parole. The decision comes just days after the state Senate approved the abolition bill, 21 to 16, on Monday.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine has pledged to sign the bill, which would grant reprieve for the state’s eight inmates on death row, within a week.
"We would be better served as a society by having a clear and certain outcome for individuals who carry out heinous crimes. And that's what I think we are doing — making certain that individuals will be in prison without any possibility of parole,” said Corzine at a news conference in Trenton, N.J.
The abolition bill was introduced in November after a special state commission concluded earlier this year that the death penalty was more costly to the state than life in prison, did not effectively prevent violent crime, and could lead to innocent people being executed.
In its report, the commission wrote that the death penalty “is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.”
Some Republicans had opposed the ban, arguing that capital punishment should still be enforced for those who murder law-enforcement officials, rape and murder children, and for terrorists. Democrats, who control both houses, rejected the idea.
"It's time New Jersey got out of the execution business," said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a Democrat who approved the legislation. "Capital punishment is costly, discriminatory, immoral and barbaric. We're a better state than one that puts people to death."
Opponents of the death penalty hailed the Garden State’s move as a small step toward a nationwide ban on capital punishment and hope that the thirty-seven states with death penalty laws will follow suit.
The head of Amnesty International for the United States, Larry Cox, referred to the decision as "a harbinger of things to come."
"New Jersey stands to embolden lawmakers who were as fearful of eliminating capital punishment as they were of keeping it,” Cox said in a statement Thursday.
"Lawmakers across the country are realizing that capital punishment is permanently flawed, and the public is increasingly wary of a system that holds the very real possibility of executing the innocent.”
Many law experts, however, say a nationwide abolition of capital punishment is a long way in coming. They say they don’t expect a death penalty ban among states with active death penalty laws such as Texas or Virginia, or those states with large death row populations, such as California or Florida.
"I don't think this is the beginning of legislative abolition. It may be the beginning of the beginning of legislative reconsideration,” David Dow, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center who also represents Death Row inmates, told the Chicago Tribune.
Bills to abolish the death penalty in three states were recently approved but none have advanced further than the Colorado House committee, the Montana Senate and the New Mexico House.
Currently, there is a moratorium on executions while the U.S. Supreme Court considers the question of whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. A decision is expected next year. Continue >>
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God is the only one who has the authority to create life....and to take life...
Romans 12:18-20(NIV):
18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
All I know is that I am a sinner saved by grace through faith, just like every other believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the Grace of God go I.....
New Jersey did the right thing, and we Christians need to have more hope. All of us are sinners, whether great or small, and all of us need God’s grace. Who knows, the murderer that would have been executed, but now not, may become a Christian later with the life that God has given him, and then he will be greeting you at the gates of heaven rather than frying in hell.
Our simpleton Governor has now ensured we will see riots in prison. Why? When a man has a life sentence he has no reason to be civil. And well done to you Governor Corzine for ruining the Rule of Law by removing the fear of death for capital crimes. Next you will advocate news Club Med prisons for the overcrowding you just caused, right? I'm moving to Pennsylvania. At least there I can defend my family.
keep it coming, keep it coming
yes, I use the Bible too. The Word of God says "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
So, I will not return evil for evil. If you choose to go against the Word of God, then that is your choice.
And so we are to follow the government when YOU say we should? No. I am under subjection to the government when the government is under subjection to God. Our government isn't. But I will submit, as long as they dont ask me to do something against the Word of God. We have a great government. It's not perfect, but it is by far the best out there. If the government wants to support the death penalty, that is fine. I will continue to challenge it, and get it removed. There is no place for revenge in God.
Common sense is fine, but it's not perfect. The Word of God is perfect. GotQuestions.org is a pretty good website that heavily relies on the Word of God for guidance in answering questions people have about the Bible.
http://www.gotquestions.org/death-penalty.html
Check out what that link has to say about the death penalty. It's very Biblical and they rely more on the Bible than on the opinions of men.
I'm not saying we are to submit to the government under all costs. Peter and John boldly decided to preach Christ although their government institution forbid them to do so. Daniel prayed when it was outlawed by Nebechadnezzar. At the same time, Jesus paid taxes and said everyone else ought to as well. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.
Check out the study I linked above, and it pretty much lays it out.
Capital punishment is about revenge, not punishment.
Jesus is refering to Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19 which has nothing to do with revenge. It has to do with capital punishment. God does not promote revenge. Revenge is a result of anger.
As far as your scriptures from Romans, so if the government decided that the "penalty" for rape was the death penalty, you'd be alright with that? Afterall, God did put our government in its position and we must obey. If the government said that reading the Bible is a crime worthy of death, you'd be okay with that? There are governments that (according to Romans) God has put there, and they say that reading the Bible is punishable by death, and Paul says that we must be under subjection to the government.
Let's use some common sense. We are to obey the government as long as they are subject to God, and their laws reflect that.
As Jesus said about the death penalty "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also."
I think it's pretty evident that many of you have not looked at the scripture that Astorino posted earlier, so I will post it here and make it easy for you.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. BUT IF THOU DO THAT WHICH IS EVIL, BE AFRAID; FOR HE BEARETH NOT THE SWORD IN VAIN: for he is the minister of God, a REVENGER to EXECUTE WRATH upon him that doeth evil."
- Romans 13:1-4 (KJV) (Caps added)
When Jesus spoke of an "eye for an eye" he was not talking about the governments relationship tot he citizens. He was talking about taking revenge into our own hands. Paul however was talking about the government's relationship to the people, and goes as far as to say that he (the ruler) is a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
I am very aware of God's grace, but I'm also aware of God's authority. I cannot ignore God's authority to make Him look more graceful, nor can I ignore His grace to make Him look more authorative.
Many of you are quick to quote popular scriptures, but it's evident that you haven't studied this subject from a Biblical perspective.
yes, PDF, we have earned our death penalty. but God's free gift of grace is truly life-changing! I wish more people would realize that.
Prophet and ifeelfine:
AMEN and AMEN!! I agree that the death penalty should be abolished! Aside from the Jesus said in the NT in the verses Prophet referenced to (Matthew 5:38-47), how can we as Christians, born again by the precious Blood of the Lamb, who DESERVE to die not only in the physical but the spiritual as well (apart from God for eternity) have been given life eternal by grace through faith, are enabled to end the life of another?
pete...
are you refering to Exodus 21:23-25 where it says:
"And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."
And where Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:38-47:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
Jesus was speaking of that law of Moses that had been given thousands of years earlier. Jesus superceded that law and brought us another law...."Grace". He did away with "capital punishment".
"Capital punishment is Biblical."
So is rape, torture, stoning, genocide, incest and almost anything else human depravity can devise - as long as it's done by "God's children" under the direction of God himself.
Capitol punishment is inhuman, without justification, and totally uncivilized, which is probably why it is practiced only in this country and the Muslim world, for the most part. Of course it's biblical, it's also koranical.
Thanks Prophet - I appreciate it.
As Astorino has already pointed out with scripture, Capital punishment is Biblical. We recently did a study on this at the Bible study I attend using a whole mess of scripture, and we all concluded that Capital Punishment is Biblical. It is very important for the Bible to be our foundation when it comes to expressing our opinions on whether or not God would or would not support something. We live in a "Bumper Sticker Philosophy" world where phrases like "God loves you" and "We're all God's children" become the foundation of our outlook. Read the Bible and you'll see that God may love mankind, but John 1 states that we BECOME God's children through Christ. We think of the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment and right away assume capital punishment is wrong. Jesus clairifes this commandment later, defining it as murder. Nowhere does the Bible condemn the act of taking somebodies life to save another, which is the foundation of things like war, capital punishment, and various self defense scenarios. Of course, if these things are done unjustly or with bad intent, they are wrong.
Prophet: Cool, we've found something we can agree on: the death penalty should be abolished.
ifeelfine,
I agree with you. I wish they would do away with it everywhere. And to think I used to be a supporter of the death penalty. But when you have an encounter with God's mercy, it changes a lot of things.
I think it just shows the liberial times of the signs. New Jersey is pushing for same sex marriage and the elutrious govenor would sign such a bill. Listed people always thou shall not kill, whay it say is thou shall not murder. Romans 13:2 & 4 speaks about rulers bearing the sword and it is not vain, or against those that do good, but those that don't do good. In the OT justice was quick. Keepoing murders in jail for the for life is not the answer to the crime problem. Quick and swift action is.
The death penalty has never been about punishment - its always been about revenge. I'm glad to see New Jersey do the right thing.