abolition death penalty Michigan

1835: Back in Sandwich (Windsor), Ontario, Canada,
Patrick Fitzpatrick's former roommate lay on his deathbed.
Needing to clear his conscience before departing this world, the
man confessed that it was he who had raped and killed the
innkeeper's daughter in 1828. In Detroit, Fitzpatrick's hometown,
people were enraged that an innocent man had been executed.

1846: Michigan had just become a State, and the first
official act of the legislature was to constitutionally abolish the
death penalty. The constitutional language was approved in the
Spring of 1847, and became official on March 1st, 1847. They
had learned their (history) lesson well. The people of Michigan
continue to hold forth to their noble heritage; the current penalty
for capital crimes is a mandatory life sentence with no chance of
parole. The sentence can only be commuted by the governor. The
very, very few, and none in recent years, life sentences
which have been commuted, occurred only after an average of
29 years have been served.