Some new polling data from Connecticut:

Connecticut voters say 61 - 34 percent that the state should keep the death penalty, rather than abolish it and replace it with a maximum sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

"Gov. Jodi Rell has said that she intends to veto the bill to abolish the death penalty and public opinion is on her side," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

The wording of the question, better than most polls on the issue, was:

Do you think the death penalty should be abolished in Connecticut and replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or do you think Connecticut should continue to have the death penalty?

The fact that a legislature would pass a bill opposed nearly 2 to 1 by the people is a symptom that something is gravely wrong with the functioning of the democratic process.