Conservative Jews Favor Ending of Mandatory Death Penalty in N. Y.

The United Synagogue of America, central body of Conservative Judaism, today endorsed a New York State Commission’s recommendation to abolish the mandatory death penalty. The recommendation was contained in an interim report issued by New York’s Temporary Commission on Revision of the Penal Law and Criminal Code.

The commission noted that New York is alone among America’s many jurisdictions in its “adherence to the mandatory death penalty.” It proposed a bill extending the jury’s power of recommendation to all murder cases and rendering the jury’s determination binding on the court, thus eliminating the mandatory death penalty.