New Jersey Capital Punishment Laws

The New Jersey legislature passed a bill in 2007 to ban the death penalty. After passing the New Jersey Senate and the General Assembly, Governor Jon Corzine signed it into law. In doing so, New Jersey became the 14th state to abolish the death penalty and the first state to do so since 1965. Now, the most severe criminal sentence under New Jersey law is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

History of the Death Penalty in New Jersey

New Jersey first enacted capital punishment laws in 1796. Four crimes imposed death sentences upon conviction:

• Murder
• Treason
• Assault on high executive government officials
• Kidnapping for ransom

In its history, the state of New Jersey has executed 361 executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Until the early 1900s, the use of the death penalty was mandatory for capital convictions. In 1916, however, lawmakers passed a bill that changed it from mandatory to discretionary. The last person executed in New Jersey was Ralph James Hudson, a convicted murderer, in 1963.

In 1972, responding to a U.S. Supreme Court case, the state supreme court invalidated the state’s capital punishment statute. This had the effect of placing a state-wide moratorium on capital punishment. However, in 1982, the state legislature enacted a new capital punishment statute.

In 2007, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission issued a report on the state’s use of capital punishment. The Commission’s goal was to study the state’s use of the death penalty and make recommendations to lawmakers. The Commission issued eight findings, including the following:

• There was “no compelling evidence” that the death penalty served a “legitimate penological intent.”
• The death penalty cost the state more than sentences of life imprisonment without parole.
• There was “increasing evidence” that the death penalty was “inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.”
• The state’s interest in executing people for penological reasons did not justify the risk of executing an innocent person.

Based on its findings, the Commission recommended the abolition of the death penalty. As noted above, the legislature abolished the state’s death penalty in 2007. The state released all eight inmates on death row when it abolished it.

For more information about the state’s decision to abolish the death penalty, read New Jersey’s Road to Abolition (Jessica S. Henry, The Justice System Journal, Vol. 29, Number 3 (2008)).

Research the Law

For more information about the death penalty and New Jersey law, browse the following links:

• New Jersey Law
• New Jersey Criminal Laws
• New Jersey Criminal Statute of Limitations
• Death Penalty
• Death Penalty in the U.S.
• History of Death Penalty Laws
• Capital Punishment at the Federal Level

In addition, consider reading FindLaw’s article about recent developments concerning capital punishment.

Questions? Contact an Attorney

Although New Jerseyans do not have to worry about the death penalty or capital trials, several crimes carry a punishment of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. If law enforcement has charged you with a crime, contact a New Jersey criminal defense attorney. A skilled criminal defense lawyer can provide specific legal advice throughout your case.