Lawmakers agree to remove death penalty from Delaware law

After an emotional round of debate on Thursday, Senate members voted to remove the death penalty from the state code.

The legislation follows a 2016 Delaware Supreme Court decision that declared the death penalty unconstitutional because it gives judges, not juries, the authority to determine the facts necessary to impose a death sentence.

Since that decision, Delaware has lost the ability to impose the death penalty, but it remains in state law. This bill would change that.

State Senator Eric Buckson (R-Dover South) introduced his own bill last year to keep the death penalty intact by clarifying jury formalities and raising the threshold for findings from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“The death penalty in Delaware has a bad history. We want to get rid of it at all costs, but at the same time we want to keep a narrow path open for people who deserve justice because, as Senator Brown said, there is a victim and the victim has the right to speak out,” he said.

Buckson’s bill was never heard in committee.

Several Republican senators also spoke out against abolishing the death penalty altogether, saying the focus should be on making it constitutional or creating an exception for the killing of police officers.

But Evans Gay says the bill is not about whether to reinstate the death penalty, but rather about bringing state law into line with the Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling.

“I know we’ve been focused on whether the death penalty should be applied in Delaware, but right now that law is unenforceable. Repealing it will ensure that it disappears from our – it’s a remedial law – from our code.”

The bill passed without Republican support and with the defection of a Democratic senator, State Senator Darius Brown (D-Wilmington).

The bill goes to Governor John Carney, who has not yet indicated whether he will sign the bill.