One Step Closer to Abolition in NJ

The Death Penalty abolition bill has overcome one of the last hurdles to becoming law in NJ. If all goes well by the beginning of next year the sentence of death will be replaced with the sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

See below an email from NJADP. Please call your State Senator. There are three more votes before the death penalty abolition bill can be sent to the Governor for his signature and become law!

Dear Friends,

One step down and three more to go! Today, by a vote of 8-4, the Senate Budget Committee approved the death penalty abolition bill. That means we have only three more votes to go: Assembly hearing, Assembly floor, and Senate floor.

Before I describe the hearing, here is how the votes broke:

Voting yes were Senators: Lesniak, Turner, Vitale, Sarlo, Sweeney, James, Kenny, and Coniglio. If one of these Senators is your Senator, please contact him or her right away and express your thanks. We asked them to do the right thing by voting yes on the abolition bill and now its our turn to express our gratitude for their leadership on this important issue.

Voting no were Senators: Lance, Asselta, Bucco, and Bark. If one of these Senators is your Senator, please contact him or her and respectfully express your disappointment.

See below for contact information for the full Senate.

In a packed room of abolition supporters and members of the media, the Senators heard testimony from law enforcement, murder victims' families, religious leaders, and others - all of whom said the death penalty is so harmful that it has to go.

Three Senators spoke of their change of heart on capital punishment. In describing what they had learned, a common theme was that the death penalty is a "cruel hoax" on murder victims' families, who are forced to endure painful delays and appeals as they struggle to heal.

Notably, when one Senator was ready to cast his vote, he said that his mind had been changed in part by the "calls and letters" he had received from constituents. Congratulations! That means you!

The final hearing is scheduled for Monday, December 10 in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. I will let you know as soon as a time is announced. I will also let you know once floor votes are confirmed. In the meantime, mark your calendar for the 10th and come be part of history!

In gratitude and in peace, Celeste

New Jersey Senate

District 1 - Senator Nicholas Asselta (R-1)
Phone: 856-691-3004 Fax: 856-691-3234 Email: SenAsselta@njleg.org

District 2 - Senator James J. McCullough (R-2)
Phone: 609-646-3500 Fax: 609-646-6735 Email: SenMcCullough@njleg.org

District 3 - Senator Stephen M. Sweeney (D-3)
Phone: 856-251-9801 Fax: 856-251-9752 Email: SenSweeney@njleg.org

District 4 - Senator Fred H. Madden, Jr. (D-4)
Phone: 856-232-6700 Fax: 856-232-6844 Email: SenMadden@njleg.org

District 5 - Senator Wayne R. Bryant (D-5)
Phone: 856-757-0552 Fax: 856-541-0426 Email: SenBryant@njleg.org

District 6 - Senator John H. Adler (D-6)

Phone: 856-489-3442 Fax: 856-489-4180 Email: SenAdler@njleg.org

District 7 - Senator Diane B. Allen (R-7)
Phone: 609-239-2800 Fax: 609-239-2673 Email: SenAllen@njleg.org

District 8 - Senator Martha W. Bark (R-8) - Conference Leader
Phone: 856-234-8080 Fax: 856-234-3990 Email: SenBark@njleg.org

District 9 - Senator Leonard T. Connors, Jr. (R-9)
Phone: 609-693-6700 Fax: 609-693-2469 Email: SenConnors@njleg.org

District 10 - Senator Andrew R. Ciesla (R-10)
Phone: 732-840-9028 Fax: 732-840-9757 Email: SenCiesla@njleg.org

District 11 - Senator Joseph A. Palaia (R-11)
Phone: 732-531-1303 Fax: 732-531-1048 Email: SenPalaia@njleg.org

District 12 - Senator Ellen Karcher (D-12)
Phone: 732-462-8883 Fax: 732-462-3423 Email: SenKarcher@njleg.org

District 13 - Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr. (R-13)
Phone: 732-671-3206 Fax: 732-706-9140 Email: SenKyrillos@njleg.org

District 14 - Senator Peter A. Inverso (R-14) – Deputy Minority Leader
Phone: 609-586-1330 Fax: 609-586-1906 Email: SenInverso@njleg.org

District 15 - Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-15) – President Pro Tempore
Phone: 609-530-3277 Fax: 609-530-3292 Email: SenTurner@njleg.org

District 16 - Senator Walter J. Kavanaugh (R-16) - Assistant Budget Officer
Phone: 908-526-4222 Fax: 908-707-0206 Email: SenKavanaugh@njleg.org

District 17 - Senator Bob Smith (D-17)
Phone: 732-752-0770 Fax: 732-752-1590 Email: SenBSmith@njleg.org

District 18 - Senator Barbara Buono (D-18)
Phone: 732-819-8141 Fax: 732-819-8204 Email: SenBuono@njleg.org

District 19 - Senator Joseph F. Vitale (D-19)
Phone: 732-855-7441 Fax: 732-855-7558 Email: SenVitale@njleg.org

District 20 - Senator Raymond J. Lesniak (D-20)
Phone: 908-624-0880 Fax: 908-624-0587 Email: SenLesniak@njleg.org

District 21 - Senator Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (R-21) – Minority Whip
Phone: 908-232-3673 Fax: 908-232-3345 Email: SenKean@njleg.org

District 22 – Senator Nicholas P. Scutari (D-22)
Phone: 908-587-0404 Fax: 908-587-9312 Email: SenScutari@njleg.org

District 23 - Senator Leonard Lance (R-23) – Minority Leader
Phone: 908-788-6900 Fax: 908-788-0416 Email: SenLance@njleg.org

District 24 - Senator Robert E. Littell (R-24) - Budget Officer
Phone: 973-827-2900 Fax: 973-827-0348 Email: SenLittell@njleg.org

District 25 - Senator Anthony R. Bucco (R-25)
Phone: 973-627-9700 Fax: 973-627-0131 Email: SenBucco@njleg.org

District 26 – Senator Robert J. Martin (R-26)
Phone: 973-984-0922 Fax: 973-984-8094 Email: SenMartin@njleg.org

District 27 - Senator Richard J. Codey (D-27) – Senate President
Phone: 973-731-6770 Fax: 973-731-0647 Email: SenCodey@njleg.org

District 28 - Senator Ronald L. Rice (D-28)
Phone: 973-371-5665 Fax: 973-371-6738 Email: SenRice@njleg.org

District 29 - Senator Sharpe James (D-29)
Phone: 973-622-0007 Fax: 973-622-5157 Email: SenJames@njleg.org

District 30 - Senator Robert W. Singer (R-30)
Phone: 732-901-0702 Fax: 732-901-0587 Email: SenSinger@njleg.org

District 31 - Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-31)
Phone: 201-451-5100 Fax: 201-451-0867 Email: SenCunningham@njleg.org

District 32 - Senator Nicholas J. Sacco (D-32)
Phone: 201-295-0200 Fax: 201-295-8294 Email: SenSacco@njleg.org

District 33 – Senator Bernard F. Kenny, Jr. (D-33) – Majority Leader
Phone: 201-653-1466 Fax: 201-714-9825 Email: SenKenny@njleg.org

District 34 - Senator Nia H. Gill (D-34)
Phone: 973-509-0388 Fax: 973-509-9241 Email: SenGill@njleg.org

District 35 - Senator John A. Girgenti (D-35)
Phone: 973-427-1229 Fax: 973-423-5895 Email: SenGirgenti@njleg.org

District 36 - Senator Paul A. Sarlo (D-36)
Phone: 201-804-8118 Fax: 201-804-8644 Email: SenSarlo@njleg.org

District 37 - Senator Loretta D. Weinberg (D-37)
Phone: 201-928-0100 Fax: 201-928-0406 Email: SenWeinberg@njleg.org

District 38 - Senator Joseph Coniglio (D-38)
Phone: 201-576-9199 Fax: 201-576-9432 Email: SenConiglio@njleg.org

District 39 - Senator Gerald Cardinale (R-39)
Phone: 201-567-2324 Fax: 201-567-8514 Email: SenCardinale@njleg.org

District 40 - Senator Henry P. McNamara (R-40)
Phone: 201-848-9600 Fax: 201-848-0378 Email: SenMcNamara@njleg.org

Celeste Fitzgerald
Director, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Chatham Office: (973) 635-6396
Trenton Office: (609) 278-6719
www.njadp.org