Maryland Commission Recommends Death Penalty Ban

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 01:08:00 AM EST
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This is the verdict of a Maryland commission that examined the state's death penalty:

capital punishment doesn't deter crime and is affected by racial and jurisdictional disparities. ...
The panel found death penalty cases cost more and that there is "a real possibility" a mistake could cause an innocent person to be executed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley hopes the commission's work will convince the legislature to reexamine Maryland's need for capital punishment.

"I think the proper course of conduct now is for us to take a fresh look at the death penalty, ask ourselves why we need to continue to have the death penalty on the books," O'Malley told reporters today. "It is ineffective. It does not work."

Maryland has executed five inmates since 1978 and has five men currently on death row.

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Maryland Commission Recommends Death Penalty Ban | 2 comments (2 topical)

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Good to hear (none / 0) (#1)
by koshembos on Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 11:22:09 AM EST

As a Marylander, I am used to a state that is strongly Democratic and has very red neck laws and regulations. Banning death penalty is good news; the state, however, has still a million miles to walk to become NY or CA.

Maryland death penalty (none / 0) (#2)
by cyrki on Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 12:30:07 PM EST

I was glad to hear that we are re-examining the death penalty. I hope that we can move beyond the OT "an eye for an eye" mentality. I work for a law firm in downtown Baltimore that has an urban clientele. We have a huge amount of work to do in education and poverty relief, and I believe that our time and resources should be spent working to better lives rather than to end them.