HB70 eliminates the death penalty in Delaware.
The House passed HB70 on June 18, 2024, by a vote of 33 to 8. We have assigned pluses to the nays because justice is the overall purpose of civil government. The State of Delaware has a dual role of securing our “unalienable Rights” to life, liberty, and property while punishing anyone responsible for depriving them. Convicted offenders can only themselves be held accountable for their own actions, and punishment for one’s crimes must be borne by that individual. The U.S. Constitution’s “due process” and “equal protection” requirements justly follow the Common Law retributive principle that ‘the punishment should fit the crime.’ Serious crimes, such as first-degree murder, which involves the shedding of innocent blood, demand capital punishment, for mankind has been created in the image of God.