On 7 March 1995, Governor George E. Pataki signed a bill reinstating the death penalty in New York. New York is the 38th state in the USA to have reintroduced legislation allowing for the use of capital punishment. The bill becomes law on 1 September 1995. The law allows for death sentences to be passed for approximately ten offences, including intentional murder committed during the course of a rape, robbery or kidnapping; contract killings; murder of law enforcement officals; and murder involving torture. Execution is by lethal injection. The law excludes from execution those under 18 at the time of the offence, pregnant women and those determined by the trial court to be mentally retarded.
