Maryland Takes Crucial Step Towards Death Penalty Repeal

On February 21, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee of Maryland approved (6 – 5) a bill to replace the death penal­ty with a sen­tence of life with­out parole. In pri­or years, the effort to end cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was often blocked in this com­mit­tee. Senator Robert Zerkin was one leg­is­la­tor who changed his mind this year, ​“As heinous and awful as these indi­vid­u­als [on death row] are, I think it’s time for our state not to be involved in the appa­ra­tus of exe­cu­tions,” he said. The bill out­laws future death sen­tences and rec­om­mends that cur­rent death sen­tences be com­mut­ed by the gov­er­nor to life with­out parole. There appear to be suf­fi­cient votes for repeal in the Senate and the House, and Governor Martin O’Malley has pledged to sign the bill. A final vote in the Senate is expect­ed by Feb. 26. The bill gar­nered sup­port from a coali­tion of mur­der vic­tims’ fam­i­lies, com­mu­ni­ties of col­or, law enforce­ment offi­cials, faith lead­ers, civ­il rights lead­ers, and oth­er promi­nent indi­vid­u­als, includ­ing Kirk Bloodsworth–who was freed from the state’s death row–Vicki Schieber–a Maryland res­i­dent whose daugh­ter was mur­dered in Philadelphia in 1998 – Catholic Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, and Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP. The gov­er­nor has pledged to use some of the mon­ey saved from not hav­ing the death penal­ty to sup­port vic­tims’ ser­vices. If Maryland repeals the death penal­ty, it will become the sixth state to do so in the past six years. Other states con­sid­er­ing repeal of the death penal­ty, include Montana, Colorado, Kentucky, Oregon, and Delaware.

Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, and New York have end­ed the death penal­ty in recent years.

NCAAP President Ben Jealous praised Maryland’s action and lead­er­ship, ​“This is a state that has repeat­ed­ly sought to evolve and be a bea­con for the rest of the country.”

(H. Nunn, ​“Death penal­ty repeal swings to Senate floor,” Maryland Gazette; M. Dresser & E. Cox, ​“Senate pan­el approves death penal­ty repeal, altered gun bill,” Baltimore Sun, February 21, 2013). See Maryland and Recent Legislative Activity. Read DPIC’s press advi­so­ry on the upcoming vote.