Have We Witnessed the De Facto Repeal of the Death Penalty in Delaware? Yes. Maybe.

Have We Witnessed the De Facto Repeal of the Death Penalty in Delaware? Yes. Maybe.

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Hear me out. This is exciting. As you may be aware, a hold has been placed on all death penalty cases in Delaware by the Delaware Supreme Court. The reason? The U. S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional part of a Florida statute that grants exclusively to judges the right to determine a sentence of death in capital cases. Guess what? Delaware has the exact same provision in its statute.  The irony is that it didn't used to be that way.  No, AG Jane Brady, Sen. Tom Sharp, Sen. Jim Vaughn and others demagogued the sheep in Dover into taking the power away from juries and giving it to judges.  Why? 'Coddling criminals', blah blah blah. How great would it be if they ended up sowing the seeds for death penalty repeal? I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see how Delaware's statute can be constitutional if Florida's is not. Here's where it gets interesting.  Only the Delaware General Assembly can change the statute.  Come inside to see why that's important....

Guest Post — Statement in Support of Senate Bill 19 by Stewart Dotts

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Today the Senate is expected to debate and vote on Senate Bill 19, to abolish Delaware's death penalty. This Guest Post is by Mr. Stewart Dotts -- this was his testimony from last Tuesday's committee hearing. Mr. Dotts also served as a juror in the capital murder trial of James Cooke. After I read this, I was really sorry I couldn't have been at that hearing. This is powerful testimony. Mr. Dotts has given us permission to reprint his testimony in its entirety. And even though debate and vote is on Tuesday, there is still time to reach out and let your Senator know that you support REPEALING the death penalty in Delaware, and they should vote YES to repeal. Reach out to them here, from the Repeal Project website. Read Mr. Dotts first:

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., March 21, 2013

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Wow, where to start? Action everywhere. Here is today's session activity report (it's all here). We'll start with gun control. HB 35 (Longhurst) cleared the House Judiciary Committee by a 7-4 margin. Democrat Trey Paradee(!) voted against it. Why? It's the slippery slope to gun registration and Big Brother argument. From today's News-Journal:
Many opponents of the background check proposal at Wednesday's hearing said the private-sale-record-keeping provision is a precursor to government gun registration, which could lead to firearms confiscations.
Damn! Where were these folks when what remained of our civil liberties were flushed down the drain in the name of 'homeland security'? Anyway, it looks like an amendment will address this issue, and I hope and expect that Paradee will vote 'yes' when the bill comes to a vote. There no doubt will be other amendments, and some will likely be 'killer' (pardon the expression) amendments. Stay vigilant, my friends.

Gov. Markell Stop Executing People

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Gov. Markell, it's time for you to stop executing people in Delaware. Just stop it now. Shannon Johnson is scheduled to be executed on April 19, 2011. This will be Jack Markell's second execution since taking office.