Legal Commentary

Maryland Commission Report: Abolish the Death Penalty

By Jeralyn

Yesterday, a legislative commission established to examine the death penalty in Maryland released its final report and recommended the death penalty be abolished.

"There is no good and sufficient reason to have the death penalty," Chairman Benjamin R. Civiletti said at a news conference. Regarding the commission's recommendation of repeal rather than reform, he said, "There are so many faults, so many flaws within the system that we could not imagine ... ways in which to cure it."

Ben Civiletti was the U.S. Attorney General under Jimmy Carter. I've had many conversations with him over the past decade as we serve on a board together, and while I admire him tremendously, I can assure you he's no "softie" on crime issues.

The chief findings in the report: [More...]

• Racial disparities exist in Maryland’s capital sentencing system.
• Jurisdictional disparities exist in Maryland’s capital sentencing system.
• The costs associated with cases in which a death sentence is sought are substantially higher than the costs associated with cases in which a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is sought.
• While both life without the possibility of parole and death penalty cases are extremely hard on families of victims, the Commission finds that the effects of capital cases are more detrimental to families than are life without the possibility of parole cases. The Commission recommends an increase of the services and resources already provided to families of victims as recommended by the Victims’ Subcommittee.
• Despite the advance of forensic sciences, particularly DNA testing, the risk of execution of an innocent person is a real possibility.
• While DNA testing has become a widely accepted method for determining guilt or innocence, it does not eliminate the risk of sentencing innocent persons to death since, in many cases, DNA evidence is not available and, even when it is available, is subject to contamination or error at the scene of the offense or in the laboratory.
• The Commission finds that there is no persuasive evidence that the death penalty deters homicides in Maryland.
• Ultimate Recommendation: The Commission recommends abolition of capital punishment in the state of Maryland.

The full report is here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 13, 2008 (boomark / email).