Constitutional Law

Md. Gov. Urging Lawmakers To Abolish Death Penalty

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is taking his effort to repeal the state’s death penalty directly to the state lawmakers. O’Malley is set to appear today before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on behalf of a bill to repeal the death penalty, which is the only legislation he has sponsored since becoming governor. In an interview with The Washington Post, O’Malley acknowledged the uphill battle he faces in persuading Maryland lawmakers on the death penalty. “At the end of the day, the only sure guarantee one has in these honorable jobs of public service is being able to look in the mirror and know you did your very best, so that what I’m trying to do. I’m really not looking for a medal. I’m not looking for applause. I just believe that it’s the right thing to do, and therefore I must try.”

Maryland’s death penalty was suspended by a state court in late 2006 after it determined that procedures for lethal injections had not been adopted. Since becoming governor in 2007, O’Malley (right) has not issued orders allowing for the resumption of the death penalty. O’Malley a longtime opponent of the death penalty, told The Post he believed that “over the long-term arc of history that we will come to conclude that the death penalty is inconsistent with one of the most important and basic and fundamental beliefs upon which this republic is founded, which is the belief in the dignity of every individual.”

The newspaper noted that last year New Jersey became the first state in a generation to abolish the death penalty, and that New Mexico lawmakers are also mulling a repeal. A recent report from the Death Penalty Information Center revealed that the use of the death penalty dropped to a 14-year low last year. The same report cited polling that showed support for the death penalty in America continues to wane.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 18, 2009 (boomark / email).