After years of failed attempts to repeal the death penalty, Connecticut lawmakers have passed legislation that abolishes the punishment for all future cases. As expected, members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, 86 to 62, after a floor debate that lasted nearly 10 hours on Wednesday.
The legislation, which would make Connecticut the 17th state to abolish the death penalty, awaits a signature from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has said he would sign the bill into law.
"Going forward, we will have a system that allows us to put these people away for life, in living conditions none of us would want to experience," the Democratic governor said in a statement following the vote. "Let's throw away the key and have them spend the rest of their natural lives in jail."
The bill would abolish the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
In the past five years, four other states have abolished the death penalty New Mexico, Illinois, New Jersey and New York.