Lawmakers to hear opinions on death penalty

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut lawmakers will be weighing legislation that would repeal the state's death penalty for future cases.

Members of the legislature's General Assembly will conduct a public hearing on the bill Wednesday morning at the Legislative Office Building.

The proposed legislation would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment, without the possibility of release for some murders.

Bill opponents argue that the death penalty serves an important purpose in the state, while supporters of repeal say the punishment does not allow families of murder victims to properly heal.

Last year, repeal legislation failed in the Senate due to the on-going death penalty trial in a fatal Cheshire home invasion case.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he would sign legislation abolishing the death penalty for all future cases.