Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford and Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairs of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, are drafting a letter to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell about her announced plans to veto the capital punishment bill the two spearheaded.
Lawlor said the letter, which may be released later today, urges Rell to offer a proposal to make the death penalty more workable. Even supporters of executions have argued the lengthy, sometimes decades-long appeals process cited as one reason for doing away with capital punishment in Connecticut should be somehow shortened for the sake of the victims’ families.
The message to Rell, Lawlor said, is simple – “Look, we came up with our solution. What’s yours?”
“If the only question is ‘can we make it workable’ we need to know the answer to that?” Lawlor said.
He pledged he and McDonald would convene public hearings on any ideas Rell puts on the table.
