The Maryland Judicial Proceedings Committee meets today at 1:00 pm (EST)/12:00 noon (CST) to consider Senate Bill 276, You can listen to the hearing at the link.
"Death penalty debate looms," is by Timothy B. Wheeler for today's Baltimore Sun.
Opponents and supporters of the death penalty are expected to converge on Annapolis today to air their views on the emotional issue, as lawmakers appear closer than ever to abolishing capital punishment in Maryland.
Gov. Martin O'Malley is scheduled to testify before both House and Senate committees hearing bills he is co-sponsoring that would end the death penalty. Among those set to join him in calling for repeal are Catholic Archbishop William E. Lori, NAACP President Benjamin T. Jealous and other religious and civil rights leaders.
Lining up to oppose repeal are prosecutors, including Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger, police officials and relatives of murder victims.
And:
If Maryland does abolish the death penalty, it would be the sixth state to do so in recent years, according to advocates.
"Md. governor to testify on capital punishment ban," is the AP report, via the Washington Post.
Gov. Martin O’Malley will testify in Annapolis on a measure to repeal the death penalty in Maryland.O’Malley is scheduled to speak Thursday before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.
And:
Since 1976, Maryland has executed five people. Five men remain on death row.
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori will be among those testifying.
"Archbishop to testify in favor of death penalty repeal," is from WBAL-TV.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori will try to convince Maryland House and Senate committees on Thursday to vote for a bill that repeals the controversial practice.
"Certainly, we recognize that people commit heinous crimes and should be punished, but we feel there's a better way than capital punishment, especially because there's life without parole," Lori told 11 News reporter George Lettis.
It's unusual for Baltimore's Catholic leader to get political, but Lori's predecessor, now-Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, testified in 2009 in support of a compromise bill to make capital punishment more restrictive in Maryland.
The current archbishop's passion for the issue stems from the church's pro-life stance.
At the Washington Post's the Fold, there is video, "The governor and mother poised to close Maryland’s death row."
Vicki Schieber didn’t care about the death penalty before her daughter Shannon was raped and murdered. Now she’s working in her memory to end capital punishment and is on the verge of a breakthrough, thanks to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
Earlier coverage from Maryland begins at the link.
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