"Officials Split on Death Penalty Repeal," is John Wagner's report in the Washington Post.
A parade of government and law enforcement officials from Maryland's past and present diverged sharply yesterday over legislation sponsored by Gov. Martin O'Malley to abolish the state's death penalty.
Appearing before a Senate committee, Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) spoke in favor of the bill, calling the death penalty a "cruel hoax" for murder victims' families, who rarely see the punishment carried out.
His counterpart from Baltimore County, State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger (D), urged senators to keep the death penalty as an option for prosecutors, saying it is used far more sparingly in Maryland than in other states.
"We're not like Texas," Shellenberger told the Judicial Proceedings Committee. "We're much more careful here."
Former governor Marvin Mandel (D) testified against the bill as well, saying there were times when the death penalty serves as a deterrent against violent crime.
Making a rare appearance before a legislative committee, O'Malley (D) vigorously disputed that and sought to appeal to senators on a higher plane, saying state executions violate "the dignity of the individual."
"Our free and diverse republic was founded not on fear and retribution," O'Malley said.
Former Maryland attorney general J. Joseph Curran (D) also backed O'Malley's call for a repeal, a position at odds with that of Maryland's current attorney general, Douglas F. Gansler (D), who did not appear in person yesterday but whose written testimony was cited by several pro-death penalty senators.
The packed hearing, at which more than 50 people signed up to testify, was testament to the controversy surrounding the governor's bill, which would replace capital punishment with life in prison without the possibility of parole.
If O'Malley is successful, Maryland would join 14 other states that do not have a death penalty. In late 2007, New Jersey became the first state in a generation to abolish capital punishment; others are considering it.
Similar legislation in Maryland has been killed in each of the past two years by the same Senate committee, but O'Malley has chosen to make the issue a priority in this 90-day session.
"O'Malley calls for Senate vote on death penalty repeal," by Julie Bykowicz is in the Baltimore Sun.
After 4 1/2 hours of testimony from more than 50 witnesses - including
political heavyweights, law enforcement officials and relatives of
murder victims - the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will decide
next whether to vote or to take a more unusual route by sending the
repeal to the full Senate without a recommendation.
The committee appears poised to take that contentious step, which would need approval from six of its 11 members.
Yesterday, Sen. James Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat who opposes
a total repeal, said he was "strongly considering" joining repeal
proponents in turning the death penalty debate over to the full
chamber. Another repeal opponent, Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Republican
representing Frederick and Washington counties, also has said he would
like the entire Senate to weigh in.
Acknowledging the likelihood of a full-body debate, Miller, a supporter
of capital punishment, said he worried that the discussion could last
for days and "turn ugly," similar to a filibuster on abortion rights in
1990. There might not be enough senators on either side to block a
filibuster, and a narrow majority of senators would likely vote down a
repeal.
A recent survey of all 47 senators by The Baltimore Sun found
that 19 are inclined to vote for O'Malley's bill and 24 oppose a total
repeal of the death penalty. Four declined to answer as to how they
would vote. Twenty-nine votes are needed to end a filibuster.
"These are fiery emotions," Miller said from the Senate floor
yesterday, encouraging the Judicial Proceedings members to vote with
him to limit debate if they forward the repeal without a recommendation.
The committee probably will wait a week before making its next
move, said Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, the vice chairman and a Baltimore
Democrat. She sponsored the repeal measure backed by O'Malley.
The Daily Record has, "Death penalty advocates, opponents appeal to legislators," by Steve Lash.
Sen. Nancy Jacobs, R-Harford and Cecil, emerged Wednesday as the most
vocal supporter of preserving the death penalty. She said surviving
family members of murder victims have a “right” to have the killers of
their loved ones put to death.
“We’re going to be taking that right away from them” if
the legislature repeals the death penalty, Jacobs said. “I tend to side
with the victims and their families.”
But Sen. Brian E. Frosh, the committee’s chairman, said
the death penalty is not meted out in an even-handed fashion across
Maryland’s counties. Prosecutors have overly broad discretion to decide
whether and when the ultimate punishment should be sought, added the
Montgomery County Democrat.
Frosh cited former Baltimore County State’s Attorney
Sandra A. O’Connor’s policy of always seeking the death penalty in
death-eligible homicides to avoid the appearance that she was
discriminating against certain defendants because of their race.
Prosecutors should not have “that kind of goofy
discretion” to treat all violent criminals the same, Frosh said. “It
was logical but wrong,” he added of O’Connor’s policy of
non-discrimination.
Meg Tully writes, "Senator's death penalty compromise rejected," for the Frederick News-Post.
O'Malley testified before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Wednesday, urging the members to approve a bill repealing capital punishment.
"It's time to ask whether public executions, even of the guilty, are consistent with the future we prefer for our children's world," he said.
Sen. Alex Mooney, a Republican who represents Frederick and Washington counties, serves on that committee and was considered the swing vote that prevented repeal in 2006.
On Wednesday, he asked O'Malley if the governor would accept a repeal with one or two exceptions for people who continued to kill while in prison.
"I think an issue like this does not lend itself to relativist rankings of why one life is more important than another," O'Malley said.
Earlier coverage of the Maryland legislation begins with this post.
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