TRENTON, N.J., May 11 (UPI) -- A bill that would make New Jersey the first state in decades to abolish the death penalty has moved a step closer to approval.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure 8-2 Thursday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The bill substitutes a life sentence without parole for the death penalty.
New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963, although the state adopted a new capital punishment law in 1982. A special commission recommended abolition in January.
The bill is not guaranteed passage in the Legislature. Two senators who voted to release it from committee warned they might change their minds in a floor vote.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the Democrat who leads the committee, said he opposes the death penalty even for terrorists.
"Terrorists want to be martyrs," Lesniak said. "Let's not give them another reason to commit a heinous act."
Sharon Hazard-Johnson, whose parents' killer is on New Jersey's death row, testified against the bill. She sat next to a picture of her parents.
"If the death penalty is broken, fix it. Don't get rid of it," she said. "This has taken more out of my life. I don't want to be here."
