Today, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission, set up by the legislature, issued its report recommending that the sentence be abolished and replaced with LWOP.
 
The Commission found:
 

(1) There is no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally serves a

legitimate penological intent.

(2) The costs of the death penalty are greater than the costs of life in prison without parole,

but it is not possible to measure these costs with any degree of precision.

(3) There is increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards

of decency.

(4) The available data do not support a finding of invidious racial bias in the application of the

death penalty in New Jersey.

(5) Abolition of the death penalty will eliminate the risk of disproportionality in capital

sentencing.

(6) The penological interest in executing a small number of persons guilty of murder is not

sufficiently compelling to justify the risk of making an irreversible mistake.

(7) The alternative of life imprisonment in a maximum security institution without the

possibility of parole would sufficiently ensure public safety and address other legitimate social

and penological interests, including the interests of the families of murder victims.

(8) Sufficient funds should be dedicated to ensure adequate services and advocacy for the

families of murder victims.

 
 
Here's a link to the Commission report.
 


Thanks to: Jeffrey M. Gamso Legal Director ACLU of Ohio Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center Cleveland, Ohio 44103-3621