Capital punishment in New York
In June 2004, the state's highest court ruled in "People v. LaValle" that the state's death penalty statute violated the state constitution, and New York has had an effective moratorium on capital punishment since then. Subsequent legislative attempts at fixing or replacing the statute have failed, and in 2008 then-Governor David Paterson issued an executive order disestablishing New York's death row. Legislative efforts to amend the statute have failed, and death sentences are no longer sought at the state level, though certain crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.
David Paterson
According to state Senator Liz Krueger, Paterson has always been against capital punishment. In July 2008, he ordered the removal of the state's equipment to perform lethal injection, previously housed in Dutchess County's Green Haven Correctional Facility. In spring 2008, the state Senate passed a bill that would make murderers of policemen eligible for execution. The state Assembly did pass a similar bill, but in any event it was certain that Paterson would not sign it, and there is no longer any death penalty in New York.