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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a bill Wednesday repealing the death penalty in Connecticut.
"Although it is a historic moment Connecticut joins 16 other states and the rest of the industrialized world by taking this action it is a moment for sober reflection, not celebration," Malloy said in a statement. "Many of us who have advocated for this position over the years have said there is a moral component to our opposition to the death penalty. For me, that is certainly the case. But that does not mean nor should it mean that we question the morality of those who favor capital punishment. I certainly don't."
The bill replaces the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. In the past 52 years, only two people have been executed in Connecticut, and both volunteered for it.
"The 11 men currently on death row in Connecticut are far more likely to die of old age than they are to be put to death," Malloy said.
Malloy said his years as a prosecutor showed him "our system of justice is very imperfect."
"I saw people who were poorly served by their counsel. I saw people wrongly accused or mistakenly identified. I saw discrimination," he said. "In bearing witness to those things, I came to believe that doing away with the death penalty was the only way to ensure it would not be unfairly imposed."
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