Meanwhile, the Connecticut Supreme Court has declared the death penalty unconstitutional. In 2012, the governor signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state. But the law exempted prisoners who were already on death row. On Thursday, the state’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of arguments that executions carried out after the abolition of the death penalty represent cruel and unusual punishment. The decision spares the lives of 11 people currently on death row.