WDEL | by Staff Writer
A bill regarding the reinstatement of the death penalty in Delaware passed the state House Tuesday by a vote of 24 to 16.
There was one absent vote May 9, 2017.
The bill exited the House Judiciary Committee on May 3 by a vote of 7 to 4.
“Keeping people safe is not the same as ensuring that our laws provide an avenue to satisfy the appetite for vengeance,” said Representative John Kowalko (D-Newark).
Some critics of the bill have said House Republicans are wrongfully using Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard’s death as ammunition for a political movement, while others on Tuesday pointed out that the bill in no way addresses what they called unjust racial bias, or the morality of declaring a state government has a right to take a life.
“In this vote, you are affirmatively voting to kill people in the state of Delaware,” said Representative Sean Lynn (D-Dover).
Under the bill, jurors would have to find unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant should be executed. A judge would have to agree with the jury for the death penalty to be imposed, but would have the discretion to sentence a defendant to life in prison.
The Delaware Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 2016.