Justice Flemming L. Norcott Jr. of the Supreme Court of Connecticut dissented from the Court’s refusal to stay the execution of Michael Ross, the first person to be executed in New England in over 40 years:

This case illustrates, however, the sheer irrationality of the capital punishment system because this defendant’s election to forgo further appeals or collateral relief, a decision that in any other context would lend some economy to the proceedings, has in fact spawned seemingly endless litigation over his fate.

I do not dispute the need for an abundance of caution given the tremendous stakes of this case; indeed, after the execution has taken place, no court will have the option of reconsideration. These proceedings have, however, been cruel and traumatic for the victims’ families and a significant part of the punishment for the defendant himself, and also have come at great financial cost for all parties involved, as well as the courts. And yet, at the end of the day, the question remains: After the execution, what will the state of Connecticut have gained from all of this? The answer seems to be that, minimally, the state has secured the proverbial pound of flesh for the crimes of this one outrageously cruel man. But now, what is to be? Has our thirst for this ultimate penalty now been slaked, or do we, the people of Connecticut, continue down this increasingly lonesome road?

I opened this opinion by mentioning that my opposition to the death penalty has often been set forth in the Connecticut Reports. I close with my belief that the totality of the costs that are attendant to capital punishment vastly outweigh its marginal benefits.

Hopefully, the death penalty jurisprudence reported in those volumes soon will become nothing more than legal artifacts of interest and import not to the active bench and bar, but only to historians. Until such time, however, I respectfully dissent.

(Hartford Courant, May 10, 2005). See New Voices.