Sen. Brad Hoylman. Photo: NYCDOT/flickr

Democrats in the New York Legislature are seeking to flex their new-found muscle to abolish the death penalty from state law more than a decade after a decision by the Court of Appeals ruled capital punishment unconstitutional as a sentence in state courts.

State Sens. Brad Hoylman and Brian Kavanagh, both Democrats from Manhattan, introduced legislation on Thursday that would remove all references of a death penalty sentence from state law, which still includes language that would allow capital punishment should a future high court hand down a different decision.

“We think it's an important statement, notwithstanding the fact that the death penalty is illegal according to the Court of Appeals decision, of New York's values about criminal justice and I think it is a guiding principle about how we address those issues,” Hoylman said.

The legislation builds on a proposal with the same intent that Gov. Andrew Cuomo included in his executive budget proposal in January. Hoylman said his bill singled out more sections of the state's laws that referenced the death penalty to rid those statues of it completely.

Cuomo formally called on the Legislature to remove the death penalty from state law last year after Pope Francis condemned the punishment in a declaration. He said at the time that he would advance legislation to do so, which he followed through with in the state budget.

It's a position that was strongly held by his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, more than three decades ago. The elder Cuomo fought against Republicans in the Legislature who wanted to reinstate the death penalty. It had been repealed in previous years, but was later reinstated after Cuomo was replaced by George Pataki as governor in 1995.

“The Governor strongly believes in abolishing the death penalty from New York State law once and for all, and advanced legislation to remove this ugly stain in our state's history,” said Jason Conwall, a spokesman for Cuomo.

It's the first time Cuomo included the legislation in his annual spending proposal, which is due at the end of March. Negotiations between Cuomo and the Legislature about what will remain in the state budget, in terms of policy, have been ongoing. Conwall said they're reviewing Hoylman's legislation.

But it could also be the first time, this year, that the legislation is seriously considered by the Legislature after Democrats secured a firm majority in the State Senate in last year's elections. The Assembly had already been a stronghold for Democrats in recent decades.

Hoylman said the legislation may, or may not, end up in the state budget, depending on how negotiations go on that front. He said his legislation is more comprehensive than what the governor proposed, and that he expects members in his chamber to coalesce around the proposal.

“I think the bill that we have is more comprehensive but we'll see what happens,” Hoylman said.

The bill, so far, doesn't have a sponsor in the state Assembly. That's not unusual for a bill when it's just been introduced. Hoylman said he was confident the bill would land with a sponsor in the lower chamber, where Democrats have historically stood against the death penalty.

Members of the Assembly blocked a measure introduced by Republicans more than a decade ago that would have reinstated the death penalty following the Court of Appeals decision that removed it as an option for state prosecutors. Hoylman's bill would go beyond the decision by removing the sentence from state law completely.

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 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.

Hoylman, who is also chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he's been working on the legislation since last year, when it was unlikely to pass with a Republican-controlled Senate.

“We wanted to make a statement for the Senate and all of us who work up here in Albany that this antiquated notion that the ultimate punishment is taken off the books once and for all,” Hoylman said. “We've been working on it since last session but now is the time to do it so we can make our own statement about the importance of removing this from the books.”

The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, the group that represents the state's prosecutors, doesn't have a position on whether the death penalty should be reinstated or not. If the legislation is included in the state budget, lawmakers will have until the end of the month to agree on final language before it's passed as part of the spending plan.

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Cuomo Moves to Remove Death Penalty From State Criminal Procedure Law