On April 25, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law abolishing the death penalty. Connecticut is the 17th state in the United States to abolish capital punishment, and the fifth in five years to issue a repeal. This act is lauded by many as progressive and a significant victory for the people who have struggled tirelessly to see an end to this barbaric practice.
The death penalty ban in Connecticut is non-retroactive. Therefore it does not extend to people currently on death row. Since a key argument against the death penalty is the large number of people being executed and then proven innocent, this exemption is hypocritical and dangerous. It shows the immense injustice that continues to pervade the U.S. “justice” system.
It is not only people on death row who remain in danger of being silenced by the system. Every day, working people fall victim to police brutality, unsafe working conditions, neighborhood violence, homelessness and starvation. Many suffer injury and premature death at the hands of the very system that relies on the profits their labor produces.
We will not be safe until we have established a government of the working class and its allies, which will protect working people from all forms of “execution.” We must continue to fight to end abuse by the ruling class. We must continue to fight for socialism!
