Delaware Senate passes death penalty repeal
A bill repealing the death penalty in Delaware was voted through the state Senate Thursday, April 2.
By an 11-9 vote, Delaware’s senators passed Senate Bill 40, bipartisan legislation that replaces Delaware’s death penalty with a sentence of life without parole.
The bill was introduced March 18 by Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, mirrors a 2013 bill she sponsored that passed the Senate 11-10. That bill did not get out of committee in the House.
The legislation would end capital punishment in Delaware, except for the 15 inmates already convicted and sentenced to death row. If passed, Delaware would become the 19th state without the death penalty.
The bill now moves to the House.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
