FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 26, 2025
Contact: Caroline Klinger (302) 599-9705
DOVER – Sponsored by Senator Kyra Hoffner and Representative Sean Lynn, the first leg of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the death penalty has advanced from the Senate Executive Committee.
Twenty-three states including Delaware have previously outlawed capital punishment through legislative action. House Bill 35 (S) builds upon existing protections against the death penalty by enshrining its abolition into the state constitution.
“The death penalty is fundamentally at odds with the values of justice and restoration that must be at the center of our criminal justice system,” said Sen. Hoffner. “Capital punishment is costly, discriminatory, prone to error, and outdated. I urge my colleagues to find themselves on the right side of history by ensuring that this unjust and inhumane practice cannot be used against a Delawarean again.”
Laws regulating capital punishment have changed five times in the last five decades. If passed, the use of the death penalty could only be reinstated through the enactment of another constitutional amendment under a future General Assembly.
“The hammer of justice should not be used as a tool for execution,” said Rep. Lynn. “Last year we passed legislation to eliminate the use of the death penalty in Delaware, but the hesitance of some to enshrine that decision into the State Constitution is the very reason that we must do it. For decades we have continued to back the wrong horse in our choices around capital punishment. It’s time that we bring this deplorable chapter to a close.”
HB 35 cleared the House earlier this week and will be voted on by the State Senate on Monday, June 30. The amendment must pass with a two-thirds majority vote again in both chambers during the 154th General Assembly before becoming law.
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