Democrats in the New York Legislature are seeking to flex their new-found muscle to abolish the death penalty from state law more than a decade after a decision by the Court of Appeals ruled capital punishment unconstitutional as a sentence in state courts.

State Sens. Brad Hoylman and Brian Kavanagh, both Democrats from Manhattan, introduced legislation on Thursday that would remove all references of a death penalty sentence from state law, which still includes language that would allow capital punishment should a future high court hand down a different decision.