New Jersey Current Death Penalty Law Sentencing News

Why have death penalty law if it's never applied.

We've all seen those stories about anachronistic and weirdly humorous laws and ordinances that remain in place but are never enforced. Things like: It's illegal to walk your pig on a public thoroughfare without a leash. Or, it's a violation to hitch your horse outside the local saloon on a Sunday during church services.

Well, add New Jersey's capital punishment law to that list.

The recent federal court action overturning the imposition of the death penalty against Robert O. Marshall of Dover Township for the contract murder of his wife in 1984 should stand as solid evidence that there's little likelihood anyone will be put to death in New Jersey for capital murder.

The court ruled that Marshall deserves a new death penalty proceeding because of "ineffective counsel." In other words, the court decided that Marshall was sentenced to death not because he was convicted of hiring someone to murder his wife, but because he had a lousy lawyer.

The judicial reasoning seems to be that because Marshall lost the case, it logically follows that his lawyer wasn't very adept at getting him off. Other death row inmates are certain to seize on this argument, and the knowledge that it's been successful, to plead their own cases.

Judicial thought aside, the reality is that New Jersey probably isn't going to execute anybody for capital murder.

Under state law, a death penalty conviction automatically goes to the state Supreme Court for review. If upheld, it opens the way for a defendant to enter the federal courts, hoping the case will be bounced back to the state courts where another loss will open the way to re-enter the federal system.

The time involved is considerable; the Marshall case, for instance, has consumed 21 years. Put another way, if a child was born about the time of Mrs. Marshall's murder, he or she would have received a college diploma this year. Or, a person in midst of a working career at the time of the murder would today be collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits.