NY candidate: No death penalty for 9/11 plotters

March 20, 2009

ALBANY, N.Y. - Scott Murphy, the Democrat running for Congress in New York, says he opposes the death penalty, even for terrorists. Speaking on Talk 1300-AM, WGDJ, Murphy tells host Fred Dicker he opposes the death penalty in all cases, including for the Sept. 11 terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Washington, D.C. Murphy says the evidence may not be conclusive in many cases and guilt can't be guaranteed. He says the cost of making a mistake in a death penalty case is too high. A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee calls Murphy's comments "dangerously naive and appalling."

Jim Tedisco, the Republican candidate in the March 31 special election in the 20th Congressional District, supports the death penalty. "Scott respects that people have deeply held beliefs about the death penalty," Murphy's spokesman, Ryan Rudominer, said in a prepared statement Friday. "He is against it. Scott was in New York City on 9-11, and understands the horrors of that day. Scott believes we need to round up the terrorists and lock them up for life and throw away the key." Source: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--nyhouse20-deathpe0320mar20,0,7034270.story