http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/death+penalty/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3488/nj_closes_death_row/ It's official. Before 2007 came to a close, New Jersey became the first state in the United States in 40 years to abolish the death penalty. With a stroke of a pen, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law eliminating the state's death sentence and replacing it with life without the possibility of parole. The measure was the culmination of a concerted statewide campaign. In January 2007, a 13-member, appointed commission--including a police chief, a couple of prosecutors and a father who lost his daughter to a violent crime in 2000--recommended abolishing the death penalty. In addition to citing concerns about the risk of executing an innocent person, the commission found that the death penalty was a poor deterrent to… death penalty prisons David Sirota