Friday, April 13, 2012

Connecticut Becomes 17th State to Abolish the Death Penalty

Qui transtulit sustinet

Translation of the motto Qui Transtulit Sustinet has be variously defined as "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains" and "He Who Transplanted Continues to Sustain". As the story of the battles in Lexinton and Concord spread throughout the colonies, local militias prepared. In an April 23, 1775 letter stamped in Whethersfield, Connecticut, it was written, "We fix on our Standards and Drums the Colony arms, with the motto, Qui Transtulit Sustinet, round it in letters of gold, which we construe thus: God, who transplanted us hither, will support us."


Sigillum Reipublicae Connecticutensis

The Seal of the Republic of Connecticut. Does that mean the considered themselves a Republic? Was that the same as a State? Fascinating stuff.



Connecticut has become the 17th state to repeal the death penalty, with lawmakers voting 86-62 on the measure after a marathon debate that stretched into the night and revived memories of some of the state's most heinous crimes.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has said he will sign the bill, which passed the House on Wednesday night, six days after the Senate approved it. The bill replaces capital punishment with life in prison without the possibility of parole, but it only applies to future cases and has no effect on the 11 men on death row in Connecticut.
I must admit, as much as I applaud this decision, it's a bit disheartening that the right to carry concealed weapons with no permit is increasing faster than the abolition of capital punishment.

But, I have hope that the one will come back around in Obama's second term, and that gradually more and more states will move themselves into the 21st century which has no room for revenge killings and state sanctioned murder.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

3 comments:

  1. Yes, the original thirteen states thought of themselves as independent republics. That's why the Articles of Confederation failed. It took the Civil War to answer that thought. Robert E. Lee, for example, was offered command of the Union Army by Lincoln, but Lee refused because he couldn't betray his country--by which he meant Virginia.

    But laying aside the legitimate concern about identifying the actual murderer, how do you see life without parole as a better sentence than death? The death penalty, ideally, turns off a murderer, while a life sentence sounds like years of torture.

    Don't get too hopeful about a second term for Obama, though, and don't imagine that the constitutional carry movement will give up any time soon.

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  2. I am all in favor of abolishing the death penalty. However, I wonder if the private prison industry is behind the push to overturn the death penalty and instead go to life in prison without parole? Seems like a perfect way to guarantee income for them.

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    1. Wow, that's a scary thought. Everything I've read and heard about that private prison business is bad.

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