Created: 12/17/2007 4:23:18 PM 
Trenton, NJ -- New Jersey's decision to abolish the death penalty is being hailed across the world as a historic victory against capital punishment.
But relatives of murder victims see it differently.
Governor Jon Corzine signed the measure replacing the death sentence with a new sentence of life in prison without parole. The measure spares eight men on New Jersey's death row, including the killer of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death inspired "Megan's Law." Her father describes today's move as "just another slap in the face to the victims."
The Italian capital of Rome plans to shine a golden light on the Colosseum in support of the new law. The landmark is now a symbol of the fight against the death penalty.
But a woman whose husband was abducted and murdered in 1989 by one of the inmates on death row is denouncing the ban on executions. Marilyn Flax says she will "never forget" how she was, in her words, "abused by a state and a governor that was supposed to protect the innocent and enforce the laws."
Associated Press
