Gov. Markell and other officials release statements on Del. Supreme Court decision
Tuesday, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional.
Governor Markell has issued the following statement after the news of their decision:
“I applaud the Supreme Court’s finding that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional. As I have come to see after careful consideration, the use of capital punishment is an instrument of imperfect justice that doesn’t make us any safer.
“The important concerns of death penalty proponents must be balanced by the examples of flawed testimony, innocent people on death row being exonerated, and other facts that weigh strongly against the use capital punishment. While I would have supported abolishing the death penalty legislatively, it is my hope that today’s decision will mean that we never see another death sentence in our state.”
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The Complexities of Color Coalition is releasing the following statement from its Executive Director Dr. Donald Morton:
“The court found that Delaware’s death penalty has a myriad of problems and is unconstitutional. Given the state’s history of racial disparities in the use of the death penalty it is time to finally end this failed policy for good.”
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This statement is attributable to Kathleen MacRae, Executive Director of the ACLU of Delaware, Inc.:
“The Delaware Supreme Court has decided that the Delaware death penalty statute is unconstitutional based on their understanding of the Sixth Amendment—trial by jury—and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Hurst v. Florida. The ACLU of Delaware applauds this decision.
“As of today, Delaware no longer has a death penalty. We join the ranks of 19 other states in the United States without capital punishment. We are proud to join with the seven other states such as Maryland, New Jersey, and Nebraska that have eliminated their death penalties since 2007.
“We call on all Delawareans to honor this ruling by our highest court and oppose any effort by the General Assembly to ‘fix’ our death penalty statute. The death penalty is an antiquated system broken beyond repair. It has no place in our criminal justice system.”
