New Jersey repeals capital punishment: Eight death sentences commuted
New Jersey became the first state in decades to repeal the death penalty as Governor Jon S. Corzine signed a measure to end what he called “state-endorsed killing.”
The state had reestablished capital punishment in 1982, but no executions had taken place. In addition to signing the bill December 17, Corzine commuted the sentences of eight men on New Jersey’s death row to life imprisonment without chance of parole—now the maximum penalty.