Since I became Governor, violent crime has declined 11 percent, with murder showing the largest decline at even more than 22 percent. New Yorkers live in safer communities today because we are finally creating a climate that protects our citizens and causes criminals to fear arrest, prosecution and punishment.
We believe that this has occurred in part because of the strong signal that the death penalty sent to violent criminals and murderers: we won't excuse criminals, we will punish them. Last September 1 marked a new era in our fight against crime. The death penalty became the law of New York State.
Shortly before the death penalty went into effect I listened to the families of 20 murder victims as they told of their pain. No family should have to go through such a wrenching experience. I will never forget the words of Janice Hunter, whose 27-year-old daughter was stabbed 47 times by serial killer Nathaniel White in 1992.
Death penalty is a deterrent
George E. Pataki, Governor of New York State
USA Today - March 1997
Capital punishment gives killers good cause to fear arrest and conviction.
SEPT. 1, 1995, marked the end of a long fight for justice in New York and the beginning of a new era in our state that promises safer communities, fewer victims of crime, and renewed personal freedom. For 22 consecutive years, my predecessors had ignored the urgent calls for justice from our citizens their repeated and pressing demands for the death penalty in New York State. Even after the legislature passed a reinstatement of the capital punishment law, it was vetoed for 18 years in a row. (Twelve of those vetoes came from the pen of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.)
That was wrong. To fight and deter crime effectively, individuals must have every tool government can afford them, including the death penalty. Upon taking office, I immediately began the process of reinstating the death penalty. Two months later, I signed the death penalty into law for the most heinous and ruthless killers in our society.
Protecting the residents of New York against crime and violence is my first priority. Indeed, it is the most fundamental duty of government. For too long, coddling of criminals allowed unacceptable levels of violence to permeate the streets. They were not subject to swift and certain punishment and, as a result, violent criminal acts were not deterred.
For more than two decades, New York was without the death penalty. During this time, fear of crime was compounded by the fact that, too often, it largely went unpunished.
No more. In New York,
the death penalty has turned the tables on fear and put it back where it belongs-in the hearts of criminals.
Within just one year, the death penalty helped produce a dramatic drop in violent crime. Just as important, it has restored New Yorkers' confidence in the justice system because they know their government genuinely is committed to their safety.
, most would be deterred. 