The death penalty--an issue which will has been revived in the form of a bill expected to come to the floor of the state House of Representatives next week--will not be reinstated in Massachusetts, if Cambridge has anything to say about it.

Three Cambridge state representatives said yesterday they hope to defeat a measure raised by Governor A. Paul Cellucci to reinstate capital punishment in the commonwealth.

Cambridge representatives Jarrett T. Barrios '90, Paul C. Demakis '75 and Alice K. Wolf, all Democrats, said yesterday that they plan to vote against the bill.

The local representatives' stance on the death penalty fits Cambridge's traditionally liberal character.

Demakis said he opposes the legislation because of the possibility that wrongly accused prisoners, especially minorities, could be put to death.

Barrios, who is Latino, announced yesterday that all three Latino House members plan to vote against the bill, saying that minorities are sentenced to death at a higher rate than white convicts.

According to several studies blaming discrimination in the judicial process, minorities are far more likely to be sentenced to death.

Demakis also cited a statistic that says states with the death penalty have the highest homicide rates, rebutting arguments that capital punishment has a deterrent effect against capital crimes.

Even recent violence in the city has not swayed Cambridge representatives' strong stance against capital punishment.

Two years ago, Cambridge was the scene of a murder that became a rallying call for supporters of the death penalty bill.

Supporters of capital punishment used the 1997 killing of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley in Cambridge to emphasize the need for a death penalty in Massachusetts.

But Cambridge's representatives remain unconvinced.

"[Curley's murder] did not change my position, nor will any [other] tragedy," Demakis said.

According to Wolf, Curley's murder only made the debate more difficult because of the heightened emotions surrounding his death.

The subtle effects of a death penalty worry Wolf, who said she believes that the government should not kill criminals.