28 June 2025 :

June 26, 2025 - Delaware. Death penalty ban in constitution passes Senate committee

Lawmakers in the senate have passed the 1st leg of a constitutional amendment that would permanently ban the death penalty in the state.

House Substitute 1 for House Bill 35, sponsored by Rep. Sean Lynn and Sen. Kyra Hoffner, would amend the Delaware Constitution to prohibit capital punishment under any circumstance.

This constitutional amendment follows last year’s enactment of House Bill 70, sponsored by former Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker. That bill eliminated the death penalty in Delaware and required life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for anyone convicted of 1st-degree murder.

Unlike HB 70, the new legislation would embed the death penalty ban directly into the Delaware Constitution, insulating it from reversal by court rulings or future legislative changes.

Delaware’s capital punishment policies have shifted five times since 1972. This amendment would ensure that no future General Assembly can reinstate the death penalty without passing another constitutional amendment.

“Over the last 60 years our state has had a dysfunctional relationship with capital punishment,” said Kevin O’Connell, Chief Defender of the Office of Defense Services. “The time is now to end state-sponsored killing in the name of justice here in Delaware. It is time to relegate this failed policy to the dustbin of history.”

HB 35 cleared the House earlier this week and will be voted on by the State Senate on June 30. The amendment must pass with a 2/3 majority vote again in both chambers during the 154th General Assembly before becoming law.

https://www.coasttv.com/news/update-first-step-to-ban-death-penalty-in-constitution-passes-committee/article_75ce18d7-dcc6-402e-afea-2837eedc806b.html
https://senatedems.delaware.gov/2025/06/26/first-leg-of-constitutional-amendment-prohibiting-death-penalty-advances-from-committee/