Massachusetts House Defeats Bill to Reinstate Death Penalty

By a vote of 80 to 73 on Monday, March 29, 1999, the Massachusetts House defeated legislation to reinstate the death penalty in Massachusetts.  The issue is not expected to come up again this year.  The local press attributes the outcome to several factors, including the sustained public opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts.  For the first time ever, the four ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Boston, and the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester participated in a joint press conference to make their case and three of the four ordinaries participated in a committee hearing a week before the final vote.  More complete stories on the vote can be found on the website for the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/globe).