DELAWARE- Lawmakers in the Delaware House of Representatives have passed the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would permanently ban the death penalty in the state.
House Substitute 1 for House Bill 35, sponsored by Rep. Sean Lynn and Sen. Kyra Hoffner, would amend the Delaware Constitution to prohibit capital punishment under any circumstance. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
“As we work toward a criminal justice system rooted in fairness, restoration, and compassion, there is simply no place for a punishment as outdated and inhumane as the death penalty,” said Hoffner.
This constitutional amendment follows last year’s enactment of House Bill 70, sponsored by former Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker. That bill eliminated the death penalty in Delaware and required life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for anyone convicted of first-degree murder.
Unlike HB 70, the new legislation would embed the death penalty ban directly into the Delaware Constitution, insulating it from reversal by court rulings or future legislative changes.
Delaware’s capital punishment policies have shifted five times since 1972. This amendment would ensure that no future General Assembly can reinstate the death penalty without passing another constitutional amendment.
“Over the last 60 years our state has had a dysfunctional relationship with capital punishment," said Kevin O’Connell, Chief Defender of the Office of Defense Services. "The time is now to end state-sponsored killing in the name of justice here in Delaware. It is time to relegate this failed policy to the dustbin of history."
According to the National Death Penalty Information Center, Black and Hispanic people made up 55 percent of those on death row in 2024. Since 1973, more than 200 people sentenced to death in the United States have been exonerated.
Because the legislation seeks to amend the constitution, it does not require the governor’s signature. It must pass again in the next General Assembly to go into effect.