ROBERTS TO BE ADDED AS PRIME SPONSOR OF LEGISLATION HALTING EXECUTIONS

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Majority Leader Joseph J. Roberts Jr. today announced that he will become a prime sponsor of legislation to impose a moratorium on capital punishment in New Jersey.Roberts will be added as a cosponsor of the legislation (S-709/A-2347), which also would create a commission to study the feasibility of continuing capital punishment in New Jersey.

The measure also is sponsored by Assemblymen Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) and Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset).

"I am grateful to Speaker Sires for allowing this important discussion to advance on our side of the State House," said Roberts (D-Camden). "Across the nation, numerous states have undertaken serious debates as to whether the death penalty serves a true purpose. It is well past time that New Jersey similarly take a look in the mirror and decide whether capital punishment has any role in our system of justice."

Roberts noted that even though the bill would impose a moratorium on capital punishment while the Death Penalty Study Commission was at work analyzing current policy, capital prosecutions in New Jersey still would be allowed to commence.

New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982. Currently, 10 individuals are awaiting execution. The last execution in New Jersey occurred in 1963.

"A moratorium does not mean that any convict currently sitting on death row nor any person preparing to stand trial for a capital crime should breathe easier," said Roberts. "However, before any prisoner is executed, we first must scrutinize our policies and render a final judgment on whether the death penalty is an equitable and justifiable form of punishment."

The bill passed the Senate on December 15 by a vote of 30-6. No final decision has yet been made on whether the bill will be acted upon by the Assembly before the end of the current Legislature on January 9.

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For Release:
December 30, 2005

Assemblyman Joseph J. Roberts
(856) 742-7600