Advocates, Delaware lawmakers rally to call for permanent end to death penalty
DOVER — Advocates and lawmakers rallied on the east steps of Legislative Hall on Tuesday to demand for a permanent end to the death penalty in Delaware.
House Bills 70 and 301 would …
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Advocates, Delaware lawmakers rally to call for permanent end to death penalty
By DOVER — Advocates and lawmakers rallied on the east steps of Legislative Hall on Tuesday to demand for a permanent end to the death penalty in Delaware.
House Bills 70 and 301 would achieve this goal; the first by removing capital punishment from Delaware Code, and the second doing the same by way of a constitutional amendment.
Organized by the Delaware Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, advocates were joined by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, D-Wilmington, who is now the prime sponsor of both measures; Sen. Kyra Hoffner, D-Dover, and Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Talleyville, who are leading the measures in the Senate; and other cosponsors of the legislation.
Delaware first abolished the death penalty in 1958, but it was reinstituted by the General Assembly in 1968. Since then, debate on capital punishment has continued, even after the Delaware Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in which the method was deemed unconstitutional.
Since mentions of the death penalty remain in Delaware Code, capital punishment could be reinstituted with a constitutional amendment in the General Assembly. To avoid its potential reinstitution, House Bills 70 and 301 aim to remove that possibility.
Both measures have passed the House Judiciary Committee and await consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives.
