In a dramatic shift from 1999, citizens in New Jersey now favor life without parole over the death penatly for those who commit murder. In a Rutgers University poll released on April 28, 47% of N.J. respondents preferred life without parole rather than the death penalty. In a similar poll six years ago, 44% of respondents chose the death penalty, while 37% supported life without parole.

Support for the death penalty declines even further if respondents are given the choice of life without parole plus restitution to the families of murder victims. In that case, less than 30% preferred the death penalty as the appropriate sentence.

“Much has changed since I voted to reinstate the death penalty twenty years ago,” said Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). “New technologies such as
DNA and other evidence have shown that people can make terrible mistakes. It’s increasingly clear that the very real risk of executing an innocent person, not to mention the expense and effort of trying to get it right, has led New Jerseyans to turn away form the death penalty.”

Senator Robert Martin (R-Morris) agreed that new information is driving the trend away from support for capital punishment, “There is a growing recognition that the death penalty simply can’t work. It’s a complex system that arbitrarily selects defendants for death and creates more stress and appeals, even as it is plagued by serious error. Each new exoneration reminds us of the unacceptable possibility of wrongful execution. It’s no wonder that this poll shows people moving away from it.”

(Press Release, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, April 28, 2005). See Public Opinion and Life Without Parole.