The Delaware House has rejected a bill to abolish the state's death penalty.
The legislation, which does not apply to inmates currently on death row, was defeated 23 to 16 Thursday in the House after barely clearing the Senate last year.
The legislation had languished in the House Judiciary Committee until last week, when the chairman, a retired police officer and opponent of the measure, agreed to release it for a vote by the full House.
Judiciary Committee members voted 6-5 last May not to send the bill to the full House after it narrowly cleared the Senate on an 11-to-9 vote.
But House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. John Mitchell, D-Elsmere, who opposes repeal, withdrew his "no" vote a week ago and signed the measure out of committee with an "unfavorable" endorsement, allowing the bill to move forward to the House vote.
"I have a responsibility to members of my caucus to give them the opportunity to speak ... what happens will happen," he said.
Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has said he would sign the measure if it reached his desk.
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Meanwhile Thursday, Delaware's Supreme Court agreed to accept and answer questions submitted by a Superior Court judge on the constitutionality of Delaware's death penalty statute in light of two U.S. Supreme Court rulings earlier this month.
