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Death Penalty 
Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 01:07 AM EST
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A while back, Gov. O'Malley, who opposes the death penalty but doesn't have sufficient political cover in the General Assembly to actually ban it, created a panel to study the issue and make recommendations. They've responded: The commission voted down a proposed amendment to retain the death penalty for people who kill correctional officers or police officers. It voiced unanimous or strong support for seven of eight findings it was charged with exploring. Among these:
• Racial and geographic disparities exist in how the death penalty is applied.
• Death penalty cases are more costly than non-death penalty cases and take a greater toll on the survivors of murder victims.
• There is no persuasive evidence that risk of execution is a deterrent to crime, and the unavailability of DNA evidence in some cases opens the "real possibility" of wrongly executing an innocent person.
The commission did not find sufficient evidence of disparities in death penalty cases based on socioeconomic factors.
This seems like adequate cover to me. Still, public opinion on the death penalty ranges from mildly in favor to mildly against, depending on how the question is phrased. So even expert opinion may not be enough to sway lawmakers to support a ban. This is especially true at the Judiciary Committee level, where you have people like Alex Mooney who are wrestling with their consciences and thus have disproportionate influence over the entire outcome.
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Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 01:17 PM EDT
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More from the Washington Post: Support for civil unions is strong in Maryland, but actual same-sex marriage not so much: On the same-sex marriage issue, 51 percent said they oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, and 44 percent said they support changing the law to allow that. But Marylanders are far more open to the idea of allowing gay and lesbian couples to form civil unions, giving them some of the same legal rights as married couples. Fifty-seven percent support civil unions; 39 percent oppose them.
What's really important here are the trend lines, as seen in the raw data: you see a continual weakening of the anti-gay marriage, anti-civil union position over the last few years. As Kevin Drum noted the other day, acceptance of homosexuality is virtually assured as older generations are replaced by younger ones. Also worth noting is that while 60% of Marylanders favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, 52% would rather see a convicted murderer get life in prison instead of the death penalty. Perhaps this has something to do with the way the question was phrased, or with the intensity of people's preferences, but does it seem to you like a certain percentage of people are rather confused on this subject?
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Thu Aug 23, 2007 at 11:46 AM EDT
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I actually have to agree with this; I find it baffling that Gov. O'Malley, who has made his opposition to the death penalty known, isn't taking more proactive steps on the issue, even something as simple as commuting the sentences of those already on death row. I would chalk this up to the usual learned helplessness many Democrats suffer on criminal justice issues, thanks to decades of demagoguery from the right; the thing is, O'Malley's "tough on crime" credentials are pretty secure, as many Baltimoreans learned the hard way. You would think he could afford to take even a meager stand on principle.
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Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 05:06 PM EDT
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Supporters of Death Penalty repeal have an important opportunity to recognize the unprecedented leadership of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Governor O'Malley became the first sitting governor to publicly testify in support of death penalty repeal this past legislative session. I sent Governor O'Malley a thank you email and thought you might want to do so as well -so that the Governor feels a groundswell of support for his leadership - you can add your voice here: http://www.mdcase.or...
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Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 02:59 PM EDT
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Terrible news today. Legislation that was supported by Marylanders, law enforcement, and victims families died in committee after what I can only assume was posturing by Senator Alex Mooney.
Mooney would only let the bill leave committee if it included and amendment that would reserve the penalty for someone who killed "while serving a prison term." Excuse me for a second, but WHAT?
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Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 09:50 AM EDT
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Did you guys hear yet? The Frederick News-Post has blown the lid off of the Death Penalty Repeal story with their headline, Majority want to keep death penalty in place.
Apparently, in the Frederick News-Post poll, 60% voted to keep the death penalty, with only 39% wanting a repeal. Too bad all the votes were volunteers in an "e-poll" and that the poll itself only got 223 respondents.
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Tue Mar 13, 2007 at 03:55 PM EDT
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Today, 51 police officers, prosecutors and corrections officials declared their support for the death penalty repeal in Annapolis.
Their opposition is very powerful, and it directly contradicts many of the pro-death penalty arguments made in recent weeks about prison security and police security in general, as it relates to executions.
The letter and press release really are a knockout punch in this argument. You can find them here at the top of the page. Lets take a deeper look.
Read more...
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Tue Mar 13, 2007 at 12:35 PM EDT
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In two days, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will vote on the death penalty repeal, and things around the state are heating up in support of the bill.
More below the flip.
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Mon Mar 12, 2007 at 03:39 PM EDT
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The tragedy surrounding the now disgraced former ballistics expert for Maryland, Joseph Kopera could be, and really should be, the start to end of the debate over the death penalty repeal.
There is a common anti-death penalty argument that runs like this: "Even if one person could be wrongly executed, that is enough reason to invalidate the system completely." The actions of Mr. Kopera have cast doubt on at least 37 YEARS of casework. I do not see how a system concerned with justice could allow any executions in Maryland to go forward at this point.
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