Death Penalty

Legislation sometimes has a funny way of working its way through the system just in time to attract attention from someone's political event.

At 11:30 a.m., Hillary Clinton is going to receive the endorsement of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Lt. Governor David Paterson and a host of other Democrats.

About an hour later, the Senate Republicans will hold a press conference about their effort to re-instate the death penalty for cop killers. The bill is expected to pass that house later this afternoon. The death penalty is something Spitzer supports in "appropriate circumstances" but which Cuomo and others flatly oppose.

Following the shooting death of a state trooper upstate yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is calling on -- challenging, even -- Governor Eliot Spitzer to join him in a pushing for the death penalty.

“Governor Spitzer says he supports the death penalty," he said in a public statement. "If that is true, he must come back to Albany immediately and do everything he can to get the Assembly to act before another officer is gunned down.”
Spitzer did indeed cancel an appearance at a NARAL luncheon in Manhattan earlier today to fly back to Albany.

But Spitzer, who supports the death penalty “in appropriate circumstances,” is not likely to find much support among his Democratic colleagues up there.  read more »