House passes bill to eliminate death penalty in Delaware

DOVER, Del. – On June 18, the Delaware House passed House Bill 70, a significant piece of legislation aimed at abolishing the death penalty in the state. Sponsored by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, Rep. Sean Lynn and Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, the bill proposes life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for those convicted of first-degree murder.

Dorsey Walker claims that the death penalty has disproportionately affected communities of color. 

"The death penalty is cruel and unjust," said Dorsey Walker. "Having served as the spokeswoman for Delaware Repeal, the entity working to abolish the death penalty in the First State, I do not believe we should be in the business of state-sanctioned murder."

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN DELAWARE 

Rep. Sean Lynn pointed to Delaware's troubled history with capital punishment. In the 1970s, the capital sentencing procedure was found by the court to violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Delaware’s current death penalty law, established in 2002, requires unanimous jury agreement on aggravating circumstances for a death sentence.

A 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision led to the Delaware Supreme Court invalidating the state's capital sentencing procedures, rendering the death penalty effectively unused since then. Sen. Kyle Evans Gay aims to shift the focus on crime prevention rather than capital punishment. 

"If we do not act on this legislation, we continue to risk revisiting a flawed and biased tool that has never once been shown to make Delawareans safer," said Evans Gay. 

In October 2023, following the conviction of Randon Wilkerson in the murder of Keith Heacook, Reps. Tim Dukes and Danny Short discussed introducing legislation that would reinstate the death penalty for those convicted of murdering law enforcement or public safety officers. This came after Delmar community members expressed frustration with the justice system. 

The National Death Penalty Information Center reports that about 2,400 prisoners in the U.S. are currently facing execution. Since 1973, at least 197 people sentenced to death have been exonerated. House Bill 70 now advances to the Senate for further consideration. 

House Bill 70 now moves to the Senate for consideration.