We have two pieces of legislation on the floor of the House, both sponsored by State Representative Sean Lynn, both banning the death penalty. One bill, House Bill 70, is just a bill to ban the death penalty as a method of punishment in Delaware. The second bill, House Bill 301, is a Constitutional Amendment banning the death penalty as a method of punishment in Delaware. I get the logic, one bill is for the short term, the other is for the long term, to make it more permanent.
Bills can be passed by simple majority. Constitutional Amendments need a two-thirds majority (67%) to pass, and then it has to be passed again in the next session of the General Assembly.
In 2016, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled the state’s capital sentencing statute unconstitutional based on a prior U.S. Supreme Court decision because it empowers judges, rather than jurors, to find the necessary facts to impose a death sentence.
Since this court decision, Delaware has been unable to impose the death penalty, but it remains codified in state law.
“After more than 50 years of an on-again, off-again relationship with the death penalty, I think that what history has taught us is that this is an experiment in constitutionality that we no longer can afford as a state,” Rep. Lynn said.
| HB301 – Constitutional Amendment Banning the Death Penalty | Currrent Status – Out of Committee 3/20/24 |
| House Sponsors – Lynn, Morrison, Baumbach, Harris, Neal, Romer, Wilson-Anton | Senate Sponsors – Gay, Hoffner |
| House Yes Votes – | Senate Yes Votes – |
| House No Votes – | Senate No Votes – |
| House Absents or Not Voting – | Senate Absent or Not Voting – |
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