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New Mexico legislature repeals death penalty
2009-03-13
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The New Mexico Senate voted to abolish capital punishment, a measure already approved by the lower House that Governor Bill Richardson must sign before it goes into effect, the Senate said on its website. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 24-18 to strike the death penalty from its law books. Democrat Richardson, who last month withdrew as President Barack Obama's pick to be commerce secretary, has not made clear whether he agrees with the repeal measure or plans to veto it, but lawmakers said they expect him to sign it into law. Supporters of the measure argue that replacing the death sentence with life in prison without parole would save the state more than one million dollars a year. New Mexico has executed only one inmate since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. It currently has two inmates awaiting execution on death row. There are about 10 US states currently considering repealing the death penalty, which is applied in 36 of the 50 states in the union.
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