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Article: NEW JERSEY'S ROAD TO ABOLITION*
- Article from:
- Justice System Journal
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright National Center for State Courts 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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New Jersey reinstated capital punishment in 1982 . The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed nearly every capital conviction that it reviewed between 1982 and 2007. Twenty-five years later, on December 17, 2007, the State of New Jersey officially abolished the death penalty and replaced it with life without the possibility of parole. This article examines multiple converging factors that contributed to abolition, including the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision making in capital cases, public-opinion data, political conditions, and the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission hearings and report. This article suggests that New Jersey judicial decision making fostered a culture of ambivalence ...