Mobile
Thursday, March 19, 2009
News Gov. Richardson repeals death penalty in New Mexico
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 1:30 PM
In a win for anti-death penalty advocates, New Mexico becomes the 15th state to ban the death penalty.
Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation Wednesday repealing New Mexico's death penalty, making it the second state to ban executions since the U.S. Supreme reinstated the death penalty in 1976.Richardson, a Democrat who formerly supported capital punishment, said signing the bill was the "most difficult decision" of his political life but that "the potential for ... execution of an innocent person stands as anathema to our very sensibilities as human beings."
Richardson said he made the decision after going to the state penitentiary, where he saw the death chamber and visited the maximum security unit where those sentenced to life without parole could be housed.
"My conclusion was those cells are something that may be worse than death," he said. "I believe this is a just punishment."
Read the rest of this Huffington Post article here.
Further reading from Death Watch North Carolina about death row inmates in Durham County:
A new study shows that black defendants in Durham County who are accused of killing white victims are six times more likely to face the death penalty than black defendants whose victims are also black.
Read the rest of this post here.
Speaking of...
Latest in The CLog
More by Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman
-
Cancer's better with a side of 'shrooms
Aug 7, 2020 -
The Last Mountain will move viewers
Aug 4, 2011 -
Government's mixed message for women
Aug 2, 2011 - More »
-
Jigsaw, Dating App That Hides Users’ Faces, launches in Charlotte, NCTo Fight Superficial Dating App Culture 3
-
Question the Queen City: The story of Mabel Rea 4
The Charlotte native went Hollywood, returned home and met a tragic demise.
-
Knight and Day: Plot eclipsed by stars 1
Cruise and Diaz are main reasons to consider seeing mindless action flick.
