Golden Wants The Death Penalty For Cop Killers

State Senator Marty Golden. Photo by Erica Sherman

State Senator Marty Golden wants to reinstate the death penalty in New York, particularly for those who kill cops, according to a recent press release.

Golden put forward the bill in light of three cop shootings this past week.

“As a former New York City Police Officer, I know there is evil walking on the streets of the City and State of New York, endangering the lives of every single police officer…It is our responsibility to re-establish the death penalty,” Golden said in the release.

This isn’t Golden’s first attempt to bring back the death penalty, having sponsored bills that passed in the Republican Senate but failed in the Democratic Assembly.

New York State hasn’t officially executed anyone since 1963, and while Governor George Pataki in 1995 signed a statute into law allowing for lethal injections, it was declared unconstitutional in 2004 by New York’s highest court.

The practice of state executions was officially put to an end by former Governor David Paterson via executive order in 2008.