Lawmakers repeal death penalty, while fate of constitutional amendment unclear

Lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill striking the death penalty from a portion of Delaware's laws, but Democratic leadership in state's House of Representatives has thus far sat on legislation aimed at removing the penalty from the state's constitution.

After 2016 rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and Delaware's high court invalidated the state's death penalty process, Delaware has had no one on death row and no longer sentences people to death. But death penalty abolitionists have argued Thursday's vote was necessary to hedge against future efforts by lawmakers to fix those legal defects and reinstate the penalty.

And Thursday's passionate debate over the issue on the Delaware Senate floor would indicate that there is still an appetite among some state lawmakers to reinstate this punishment.

Supporters of abolition cite data showing that the death penalty is not an effective crime deterrent, was statistically more likely to be placed upon Black defendants, is unpopular in the general public and, in some cases, has been carried out on individuals later proven to be innocent.

They've also pointed to Delaware's history with the penalty in the past 75 years, noting the fact that it has been invalidated by the courts or the Legislature multiple times only to return on the backs of reactionary legislators seeking to show they did something when a particularly galling crime captures the attention of the general public.

Read more: The death penalty in Delaware isn't used anymore. So why are lawmakers again debating it?

In Thursday's debate, lawmakers that support the death penalty cited famous and heinous murders, the murder of a police officer and the pain felt by victims of violent killings as reasons to bring back the punishment. Republican Sen. Dave Lawson referred to some people who carried out such famous murders as "animals."

"There are some people in this world that don't have the mindset to be human," Lawson said.

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After a little less than one hour of debate, the legislation passed with 14 in support and seven dissenting. Sen. Darius Brown was the lone Democrat voting against the bill. Two weeks ago, the legislation passed the state's House, and it is now expected to be signed by Gov. John Carney.

Will House leadership sit on constitutional amendment?

Essentially, the legislation passed Thursday removes the penalty from Delaware's criminal statutes, but it could be reinserted in the future just as easily as it has been removed. Republicans in the Senate as recently as last year have introduced legislation aimed at opening the door for its future use by curing the constitutional defects that the courts said invalidated Delaware's death penalty.

On Thursday, Republicans argued that the penalty is just, that it can be implemented in such a way that passes legal scrutiny in the courts and in a way that removes the possibility that innocent people are killed by the state.

This is why abolition supporters have pushed a separate bill that would remove the penalty from the state's constitution. Amendments to the state's constitution require a larger majority for passage, as well as passage in two consecutive sessions of the assembly. And so, striking the penalty from the constitution would mean future attempts to reinstate it would have a higher bar to clear.

Abolitionists have argued that support for removing the penalty, primarily among the strong Democrat majority in the state's legislature, should also now be applied to a constitutional amendment to further ensure the state stays out of the unjust and imperfect business of killing people.

However, Democratic leadership in the state's House of Representatives has shown no appetite for going that far. Since it passed through a House committee in March, they have not brought up for a vote a separate bill, House Bill 301, that would strike the penalty from the state's constitution.

Raising that bill for a vote on the House floor is the prerogative of House Speaker Valerie Longhurst. She voted in favor of the legislation the Senate passed Thursday when it passed the House two weeks ago but has not acted on the proposed constitutional amendment.

After this story published Thursday, a spokesperson for Longhurst sent a statement indicating her intent to raise the bill for a vote before the end of the legislative session and emphasizing her support for the constitutional amendment.

"House Bill 301 would put a long-standing protection in the Delaware constitution so that no one will be sentenced to death as a result of being convicted of a crime," Longhurst said in a written statement. "We know putting such protections in place is a much-needed next step as evidenced by the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade."

It's possible the constitutional amendment could pass both the House and the Senate on Sunday, the Legislature's final day, if it garners the required support and if senators suspend rules that would normally require the legislation to receive a committee hearing in the Senate.

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Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware strikes death penalty, but some say it doesn't go far enough