Calling the death penalty expensive and ineffective in reducing violent crime, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday that he would push to make his state the latest to do away with capital punishment.
"The death penalty does not work in terms of preventing violent crime and the taking of human life," Mr. O'Malley said at a news conference in Annapolis. He added that "year after year," murder rates in states with death penalties are higher than in those without them.
Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat seen as a possible presidential hopeful in 2016, said he would introduce a bill to the state legislature this week calling for the full repeal of the state's death penalty. If it passed, Maryland would become the sixth state to abolish capital punishment since 2007—joining Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York. Thirty-three states retain the power to sentence inmates to death.
The vote in Maryland's Senate is expected to be close, according to
people familiar with the situation. Twenty-four of the Senate's 47
members need to vote for the bill in order for it to move to the state
House of Delegates, where it is widely expected to pass.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2013
