Connecticut Gov . Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law Wednesday that abolishes the death penalty , making his state the 17th in the nation to abandon capital punishment and the fifth in five years to usher in a repeal . The law is effective immediately , though prospective in nature , meaning that it would not apply to those already sentenced to death . It replaces the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of release as the state 's highest form of punishment . `` Although it is an historic moment -- Connecticut joins 16 other states and the rest of the industrialized world by taking this action -- it is a moment for sober reflection , not celebration , '' Malloy said in a statement . He added that the `` unworkability '' of Connecticut 's death penalty law was a contributing factor in his decision . `` In the last 52 years , only two people have been put to death in Connecticut -- and both of them volunteered for it , '' Malloy said . `` Instead , the people of this state pay for appeal after appeal , and then watch time and again as defendants are marched in front of the cameras , giving them a platform of public attention they do n't deserve . '' This month , lawmakers in the state 's House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 86 to 63 . The state Senate had approved it a week before . State lawmakers first tried to pass a similar bill in 2009 but were ultimately blocked by then-Gov . Jodi Rell , a Republican . Capital punishment has existed in the Nutmeg State since its colonial days . But it was forced to review its death penalty laws beginning in 1972 , when a Supreme Court decision required greater consistency in its application . A moratorium was then imposed until a 1976 decision by the high court upheld the constitutionality of capital punishment . Since then , Connecticut juries have handed down 15 death sentences . Of those , only one person has been executed , according to the Death Penalty Information Center , a nonpartisan group that studies death penalty laws . Michael Ross , a convicted serial killer , was put to death by lethal injection in 2005 after he voluntarily gave up his appeals . The state now has 11 people on death row . Advocates of a repeal say that Connecticut 's past law kept inmates -- who were often engaged in multiple appeals -- on death row for extended periods of time , costing taxpayers far more than if the convicts were serving a life sentence in the general prison population . They also point to instances in which wrongful convictions have been overturned with new investigative methods , including forensic testing . Opponents of the repeal had said that capital punishment is a criminal deterrent that offers justice for victims and their families . In the last five years , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York and Illinois have repealed the death penalty . California voters will decide the issue in November .
Connecticut Gov . Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law that abolishes the death penalty . Comment: California voters will decide the issue in November .