December 16, 2005

ALBANY, NY – Gov. George E. Pataki has announced a special legislative session for December 21 to vote on bills that seeks to curb illegal gun trafficking and to permit the death penalty for those convicted of murdering a police officer.

This comes on the heels of recent fatal shootings of two New York City police officers, Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui. The deaths have prompted finger-pointing among Republican and Democratic leaders in Albany over why anti-gun measures have stalled.

Pataki's legislation would also have the effect of reviving the death penalty. The state's 1995 law was struck down last year by a state court, which found a central element of its sentencing provisions unconstitutional. Assembly Democrats, after five lengthy public hearings, were persuaded not to resuscitate the death penalty.

New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, a broad coalition including many religious groups, immediately issued a call to contact legislators and urge them not to reinstate the death penalty. Members of the coalition cited a drop in the murder rate since the end of the death penalty as one of many reasons to leave it off the books. The high error rate in the criminal justice system and the use of the death penalty in biased ways based on race and geography were also cited.

The Queens Federation of Churches, which has been opposed to the death penalty for decades, posted information and ways to contact legislators on its website.

In recent days, Senate Republicans have accused the Assembly Democrats of derailing their legislation to toughen sentences for people who use or sell illegal guns. Assembly Democrats have countered that the Senate has held up their anti-gun measures, and is unduly influenced by the National Rifle Association.

Queens Federation of Churches