DOVER, Del. (AP) - A bill reviving attempts to abolish capital punishment in Delaware after an earlier failed effort is teed up for its legislative hearing.
The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider the legislation, which mirrors a bill that passed the Senate in 2013 by only one vote before dying in a House committee.
The legislation would remove execution as a possible punishment for first-degree murder, leaving life in prison without the possibility of parole as the only sentence.
The 15 inmates currently on Delaware's death row would still be subject to execution.
Attorney General Matt Denn says he is not opposed to capital punishment in appropriate cases, but that state law should be changed to require a unanimous jury recommendation before a judge can impose a death sentence.
