Tag: Delaware death penalty repeal

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: May 12-14, 2015

Filed in Delaware by on May 12, 2015 18 Comments
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: May 12-14, 2015

That was quite the interesting little week. HB 50 passes overwhelmingly, Gov. Markell announces he will sign death penalty repeal legislation should it reach his desk, and the General Assembly apparently has come up with a sorta-gimmick to close at least some of the gap in infrastructure spending.  At least the D’s have. And my daughter graduated college with honors in Mathematics and Japanese, and now proceeds to a Masters of Arts in Teaching Program.  She wants to teach and inspire high school students to fully realize their potential in mathematics.  I sorta doubt that she sees the ‘Smarter Better Test’ as a means to that end.

While it looks like there’s gonna be some new funding for road projects, the Rethugs appear hell-bent on getting some sort of ‘right to work for less’ concessions in exchange for votes to close the budget shortfall. Because, you know, nothing furthers economic prosperity more than paying workers less. Hey, it’s why they’re Rethugs.

The big showdown of the week takes place in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 11 am in the House Chamber.  SB 40(Peterson), which repeals Delaware’s death penalty, and has already passed the Senate by an 11-9 margin, will be considered.

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Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of March 24-26, 1015

Filed in Delaware by on March 24, 2015 7 Comments
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of March 24-26, 1015

Yet another sneaky maneuver from Markell’s Merciless Minions in their ongoing war on state employees. After agreeing to postpone their plan to screw state employees and retirees by shifting more health costs onto them, Ann Visalli and her henchpersons nevertheless convened a meeting of the ironically-named State Employee Benefits Commission to ‘temporarily’ increase premiums. In other words, shifting more costs onto the workers. And going back on their public promises. When it comes to state employees, Markell is taking his cues from Scott Walker. Or perhaps vice versa.  From Day One, Markell has done little to hide his disdain for the worker bees. Guess he admires smooth-talking used car salesmen like himself much more.  Right back at’cha, Jack.  Glibness made you rich and made you governor.  Hey, maybe that’s why Jack looks down on state employees…not glib enough for him and, of course, not wealthy enough for him. Memo to the General Assembly: We’re watching. It’s time to tax Jack’s pals. They collected all the spoils of the so-called economic recovery.  Stop Markell’s transfer of more wealth to the wealthy.  This. Is. Unconscionable.

The Delaware General Assembly has a new easy-to-navigate website.  It’s really really good, but does not lend itself to linking as well as the previous website. Rather than doing a cut-and-paste of huge swaths of text, I’ll post highlights and encourage you to check out the site.  It’s definitely much easier to access and search than it used to be, which makes me even less essential (I know, I know).

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General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Mon., June 30, 2014

Filed in Delaware by on June 30, 2014 4 Comments

The Longest Day. Here’s what a final day is usually like. Legislators drift in, and sessions generally begin around 4 pm or so. Dinner break a couple hours later. Because of, um, unfortunate instances of overindulgence in the past, members and staff generally dine in Leg Hall. In the past, lobbyists have paid for dinner. […]

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Witness to Innocence Comes to Delaware

Filed in Delaware by on February 18, 2014 14 Comments
Witness to Innocence Comes to Delaware

These events are sponsored by the Delaware Repeal Project. Witness to Innocence is a group of 15 death row exonerees who are visiting to discuss how flawed the death penalty truly is. I’ve taken the text describing all of these events directly from their FB Event page. Hope to see you at some of these, and be sure to invite your State Rep or Senator too:

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General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 25, 2013

Filed in National by on April 25, 2013 1 Comment

The big news, as predicted here by one of the death penalty repeal opponents, is that SB 19(Peterson) did not have sufficient votes to make it out of the House Judiciary Committee. Opponents included families of victims, law enforcement, and the Attorney General. I apologize for somehow missing this during my preview yesterday. I don’t understand how I did not see that this bill was being considered, but I didn’t. Probably the most egregious (among scores of them) mistake I’ve ever made since I started doing these reports. Mea Culpa.

According to Jonathan Starkey’s coverage in the News-Journal, the bill is probably dead for this year. But this is the first year of a two-year legislative session, and things can change. This bill was a close call in the Senate, and it was destined to be close in the House as well. We’ve also learned that, in Delaware, the police get what the police want, including a lack of transparency (aka the Police ‘Bill of Rights’, which tramples on the very notion of a bill of rights), so this is to be expected. Don’t lose heart. These things often take time, so just keep working at it.

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General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., March 27, 2013

Filed in National by on March 27, 2013 23 Comments

And to think that I was gonna cut back on covering the legislative beat. Whatever was I thinking? Every day, huge stories, two of ’em yesterday: 1. State Senate votes to repeal Delaware’s death penalty statute, and 2. The Obama-ization of the House Democratic Caucus appears complete. At least with respect to preemptively compromising with an enemy that will not compromise with you.

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