
DOVER, Del. - A bill that would repeal Delaware's death penalty and spare the lives of 17 killers already on death row has cleared a Senate committee and is heading to the full Senate for a vote.
Members of the Senate Executive Committee voted 4-2 Wednesday to release the bill after hearing from supporters and opponents.
Supporters argue the death penalty is morally wrong, ineffective as a deterrent to violent crime and far more costly than putting killers in prison for life. They also point to cases in other states where condemned killers have later been exonerated.
Leaders of the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council spoke against the bill Wednesday, saying no death row inmate in Delaware has ever been found innocent after being convicted.
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