by KYW's Ed Kasuba

The New Jersey state senate has approved a measure outlawing the death penalty in that state.
   
If this measure becomes law, New Jersey would be the first state to abolish the death penalty since the US Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate it IN 1976. A vote is expected in the state Assembly on Thursday, and Governor Corzine has said he will sign the bill into law.

Instead of the death penalty, those convicted of murder would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (see previous stories). 
 
Noting that no one has been executed in New Jersey since 1963, the bill’s sponsor -- Union County’s Ray Lesniak -- believes the death penalty is not a deterrent:

"We shouldn’t have the death penalty unless we are going to use it, and we shouldn’t use it if there’s a chance of executing an innocent person.”

Cherry Hill state senator John Adler says that although he previously favored the death penalty, he has a different opinion now:

"And yet I don’t think I want anymore to have New Jersey be responsible for death. I think that doesn’t soothe our soul; I think that pains our soul, and ultimately I think this legislature has to be keepers of the civil soul.”

In January, a report from a special legislative commission stated that the death penalty was ineffective and there was no evidence the death penalty deters murders.
 
New Jersey currently has eight men on death row.