TRENTON – The senator who seeks to restore New Jersey’s death penalty says there are some crimes so heinous that no lesser punishment will suffice.
Sen. Robert Singer, (R-30), Jackson, is talking about the death of a 2-year-old girl whose father faces charges that he he attached a car jack to her car seat and tossed her into a river.
The legislator’s bill, introduced in January, seeks to restore the death penalty in cases that would include when the victim is under 18.
Singer said that in cases where there is no doubt about the identity of the killer society demands nothing less than capital punishment.
“In certain cases the public is so offended,” Singer said, “the killer has to face the consequences of his actions.’’
Advances in DNA have reduced the problem of a falsely convicted person being executed, he said.
But even if some scientific hurdles have been cleared, political hurdles remain.
Over the summer, Singer attempted to have his measure voted on in the full Senate before it had worked its way through committee, but he was rebuffed.
“They know it’s going to pass,’’ Singer said. “The Speaker knows it, the Senate president knows it, the governor has said he will sign it. That was right before elections.’’
“The liberals don’t want to see it,’’ he said, but now that election day has passed, he feels more confident that it will be dealt with.
He said he intends to bring it up again on the Senate floor if it isn’t given a hearing in committee.
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