Even so, it would still have to go through the Senate and be signed by the governor. It's not unusual for some bills to languish for a decade or longer, only to get picked up when supporters believe that the political winds are favorable. United by what they call moral opposition to the death penalty, the opponents call it costly, unfair, useless as a deterrent, error-prone and part of the country's culture of violence. Death-penalty proponents counter that the cost stems from delays caused by a long appeals process, in New Jersey's case as long as 15 years. The bills approved last week, which now head to the Senate, sprang from a committee appointed by Gov. Whitman to suggest ways to streamline the process.
Surveys generally find that most New Jersey residents support the death penalty.
But opponents said they believe public opinion can be turned around, slowly, with the right arguments. Morally, fiscally and statistically, it's a flawed government approach to discouraging criminal behavior. 14 men are on death row in New Jersey. The last execution in the state was in 1963, by hanging. Linda Gillette has spent 16 years waiting for John Visciotti to be executed for murdering her brother.