Death Penalty

State legislators of the Joint Judiciary Committee yesterday heard public testimony supporting the repeal of Massachusetts' capital punishment law.

"The Court makes, mistakes, but with the death penalty we can't raise the dead," Karen Hudner, representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, said.

Although the Supreme Judicial Court recently declared-with a 6-1 majority-the Massachusetts death penalty statue "cruel or unusual punishment," it remains on the books. Some legislators are trying to pass an amendment that would revive the status within the next two years.

"The death penalty is being sold to the people as a cure-all to solve all crimes," John J. Buckley, president of Law Enforcement Against Death said.