Toomey said his decision was influenced by his close relationship with the Curleys--the parents of Jeffrey, whose body was found October in a Maine river.

Toomey said he supports the death penalty primarily because of its potential to deter criminals and protect local citizens.

"The last couple of months have been horrific in terms of [local] violence," Toomey said. "The death penalty sends a message that we're here to protect society and the children."

Although Toomey said he does not see the death penalty as a "cure-all," he said he views it as the best available method for dealing with repeat offenders. Rather than allowing sexual predators and violent criminals to return to their home communities and offend again, Toomey said, the legislature should take responsibility.

"We need to reconsider the direction we're going...to establish a respect for life because right now there's no fear," he said.

Approached by other representatives to change his vote, since the bill would affect juvenile offenders, Toomey declined.

"If a 14-year-old clearly committed premeditated murder, there's something wrong," he said. "We're not going to rehabilitate murderers."

Education and proactive work with city youth-training programs can help discourage potential offenders, Toomey said. However, once someone commits murder, he added, rehabilitation and probation are no longer options.

As chair of the House's public service committee, Toomey has been working on a "rule of 90" that would allow Cambridge teachers to retire when the sum of their age and years of service equals 90.

The rule would enable teachers to retire early, but not obligate them to do so. Although the initiative would mean increased turnover in the Cambridge school district, which is still adjusting to a new superintendent, Toomey said it would be a change that most eligible teachers appreciate.

"I think 99 percent of the teachers would take it," said Toomey. "But it's a very costly measure and it may be held until the next session."

Pushing Affordable Housing

Although he disagrees with Toomey on the death penalty, State Rep. Alvin E. Thompson (D-Cambridge) is no stranger to victims of violent crime. Three years ago, one of his relatives was murdered, shot to death during a Cambridge basketball game. Now Thompson, a part-time security guard at Harvard, is one of the strongest local opponents of the death penalty.

Thompson said he could not support the law. "The bill was dealing with juveniles, kids 14 to 15 years old," he said. "I've always thought that you need to retrain or counsel them. To me, there's no person who can't be rehabilitated."

Thompson said he sympathizes with the Curley family, but that retribution cannot be a driving force behind a bill that would have imposed the death penalty for juveniles.

"On both sides the families lose," he said. Although Thompson said he does not question the "atrocity" of violent crimes committed in the state, he said the onus of punishment should be on the administration and on the prison system--not the legislature.