New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would advance legislation to erase the death penalty from state law, just hours after Pope Francis condemned capital punishment on Thursday. New York state has not executed a person since the state Court of Appeals struck down a death sentence in a 2004 decision, but it has technically remained part of criminal law since 1995. The death penalty was reinstated during the administration of former Gov. George Pataki after strong opposition from his predecessor, Gov. Mario Cuomo. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on Thursday that the legislation is a tribute to his father's position on capital punishment. "As governor, Mario Cuomo vetoed legislation reinstating the death penalty 12 times in 12 years,” Cuomo said. “He did this because he believed the death penalty was wrong and he had the courage to stand firm in his beliefs—so much so that he was willing to lose his office rather than capitulate. Pop was right then, and he is right now.” The death penalty is still included in the state's sentencing laws for first-degree murder, though the court's decision bars prosecutors from seeking it. If someone is convicted on that charge, “the court shall promptly conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant shall be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without parole,” according to the law. The measure was added to state law in 1995 after nearly 12 hours of debate in the State Assembly, which was controlled by Democrats. That party still holds sway in the chamber today. The Republican-controlled State Senate passed the bill in a fraction of that time, according to a 1995 article from The New York Times. Restoring the death penalty was one of Pataki's campaign promises during his first run for governor in 1994. Pataki defeated Mario Cuomo in that year's election by less than 200,000 votes, according to results from the state Board of Elections. Mario Cuomo remained opposed to the death penalty up until his death in 2015. He lamented the state's statute in a 2011 op-ed, calling it a “stain on our conscience.” There has not previously been a strong movement in the state legislature to eliminate the statute. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legislation is also unlikely to move, at least for the time being. The legislature is not scheduled to return to Albany until January and the issue remains settled by the Court of Appeals unless lawmakers approve a bill to expand the death penalty. The law as currently written mandates that if a jury is deadlocked in a first-degree murder trial, the defendant would be sentenced to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole after at least 20 to 25 years. Before the Court of Appeals decision, the defendant could only be sentenced to death if the jury was unanimous in its decision. The jury could also sentence a defendant to life without parole, but that decision had to be unanimous as well. In People v. LaValle , the Court of Appeals was concerned that a juror could be coerced to choose death over life in prison to avoid a deadlocked jury, and consequently the possibility of the defendant someday being released from prison. The court decided the death penalty sentence as written was unconstitutional. There are a few bills currently introduced in the legislature that would attempt to reinstate the death penalty by either addressing the decision in LaValle or expanding the punishment. A bill advanced by state Sen. Martin Golden, R-Brooklyn, would amend the law to require a sentence of life imprisonment without parole if a jury is deadlocked between that sentence and the death penalty. That would address the court's decision, Golden wrote in a memorandum accompanying the bill. A bill with the same proposal has been proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Errigo, R-Livingston. Assemblyman Dean Murray, R-Suffolk, has put forward a bill with the same change, but his measure would only apply to the murder of a police officer, peace officer or an employee of the Department of Correctional Services. Cuomo, like his father, has been a steadfast opponent of the death penalty. In his statement on Thursday, he said the declaration from Pope Francis validated his father's position. "Pope Francis' decision is a validation of my father's principled stand against the death penalty in the face of overwhelming support for capital punishment. My father staked his political career on his opposition to the death penalty and never backed down,” Cuomo said. His statement came hours after Pope Francis and the Catholic Church issued a declaration saying the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."