Pennsylvania governor says he won't issue any execution warrants, calls for abolishing death penalty

"When an execution warrant comes to my desk, I will sign a reprieve each and every time," he said.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro gives a victory speech to supporters at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on November 8, 2022 in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
By Madeleine Hubbard

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that he will not issue any execution warrants during his time as governor of Pennsylvania and he called on the commonwealth General Assembly to abolish the death penalty. 

"Today I speak not to the integrity [of] individual capital convictions, but to the question of whether death is a just and appropriate punishment for the state to inflict on its citizens," Shapiro said.

"When an execution warrant comes to my desk, I will sign a reprieve each and every time," he said. "We shouldn't aim to just fix the system. The Commonwealth shouldn't be in the business of putting people to death. Period."

The last person to be executed in Pennsylvania was Gary Heidnik in 1999. He was convicted of kidnapping six women, two of whom he murdered.