Legislators in the Connecticut House of Representatives voted down Bill 6012 on Wednesday that would have abolished the state’s death penalty.
Representatives debated this bill, “An Act Concerning Murder with Special Circumstances,” for several hours before the final vote was taken, which totaled 60 in favor and 89 against.
Student Amnesty International members, including Wesleyan students, drove to Hartford Wednesday afternoon to watch the debates. They joined a group of about 45 people in the spectator booth, which overlooks the main gallery of the capitol building where representatives meet. The students along with the majority of the spectators wore large red stickers which read, “Do Not Kill in my Name.”
“Remember: no screaming, yelling, streaking, or handcuffs,” said Amy Harris, a member of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP) to the students before they entered the gallery.
The majority of anti-death penalty activists in attendance were from the CNADP, which involved Wesleyan students who attended the judiciary committee public hearing on the bill in January.
“After seeing the amount of support [for the bill] at the judiciary committee [hearings], we all came out beaming,” said Lyuba Azbel ’08, student area coordinator of Amnesty International for the state of Connecticut. “After seeing this, I know we definitely have a long way to go.”
Lesli Brett, head of Connecticut’s Permanent Commission on the status of women, is a Wesleyan alumna who also attended the debate.
“I’m glad to see that [Wesleyan students] are here; it’s good to know [they’re] still politically active, especially with important issues like this,” Brett said.
Although several speakers spoke in support of the bill, the majority of the representatives that students saw during the three hours they attended were opposed.
“I was surprised by how little [the representatives] actually debated the public policy and logistics having to do with the bill,” said Evan Morse ’08. “[There were] a lot more emotional stories and personal statements that just weren’t necessary.”
Several representatives referenced Michael Ross, the Connecticut death row inmate whose execution date has been pushed back to May 11. Others, such as representative Steve Mikutel, firmly supported upholding the death penalty.
“These guys [on death row] have a better life than homeless people,” Mikutel said. “They have a better life than college students in dorm rooms!”
Wesleyan University is in District 33 of Middletown, whose Representative is Joe Serra. Although Serra’s official stance was undecided, he voted against the bill on Wednesday.
Amnesty International in combination with the ACLU set up tables on Monday and Tuesday in front of the campus center to generate efforts to sway Serra and Middletown’s Connecticut Senate member Biagio Ciotto. Students signed letters advocating opposition to the death penalty, and phones were also made available to call local legislators. On April 5, members plan to visit Senator Ciota’s office to discuss concerns with him.
“The vote’s already been taken, but it’s still important to let him know how his constituency feels and what our stance is,” Azbel said.
The bill has the possibility to come back before the house in another two years, and many advocates of the bill including CNADP Executive director Robert Nave are optimistic about the results of the vote.
“We lost the vote and there are some, especially in the press and our adversaries, who say that we lost big, but I don’t see it that way,” Nave said. “I see it that we now have 2 years to sway 15 people to our side in the House; we have our work cut out for us, but it is very do-able.”
Leave a Reply