Politics & Government

Legislators to Revisit State's Death Penalty Law

The bill will be discussed during Wednesday's Judiciary Committee meeting, according to the Associated Press.

After legislation to repeal the death penalty in Connecticut failed in the Senate last year, lawmakers will once again bring the issue before the Judiciary Committee, according to The Associated Press.

Legislators are expected to bring it before the Committee on Wednesday morning with Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, who represents New Haven, leading the effort. “I am going to push this each session,” Holder-Winfield told Patch in December.

National civil rights leaders gathered at the Stamford Government Center last November to call for the repeal of Connecticut’s death penalty. Among those who spoke were National NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Kim Davis, whose brother Troy was executed in Georgia two months earlier, and Reverend Raphael Gamaliel Warnock of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.

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The death penalty was also a focus when Stamford residents gathered last month to march in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Day. "We're actively following the lead of Ben Jealous and trying to get it abolished in Connecticut," Jack Bryant, president of the Stamford chapter of the NAACP, told Patch. "We're one of the first states in the NAACP to advocate abolishing the death penalty."

Gov. Dannel Malloy has said that he would sign legislation repealing the death penalty, according to AP.

Find out what's happening in Ridgefieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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