FEATURED POST

Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

Image
While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

Maryland: Death Penalty Referendum Effort Falls Short

An effort to undo Maryland's recent repeal of the death penalty has fallen short.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger and other advocates had been seeking a ballot question next year that would ask voters to reinstate capital punishment.

Shellenberger told WBAL News. the effort fell about 3,000 signatures short of the minimum number of signatures needed, and about 8,000 short of the 23,000 that advocated wanted to submit.

Shellenberger says he's resigned to the fact that Maryland no longer has the death penalty, which lawmakers repealed this year. He says he believes it's an appropriate penalty for people he calls the "worst of the worst."

Shellenberger says he thinks there's no natural constituency for death penalty supporters to reach out to, and that many citizens don't feel that the death penalty has been used effectively in the state.

Shellenberger and Washington County Delegate Neil Parrott had launched this petition effort on May 3, one day after Governor Martin O'Malley signed the death penalty repeal into law.

The NAACP had lobbied heavily for the repeal during this year's legislative session.

National NAACP President Benjamin Jealous welcomed the news of referendum's failure.

"The people of Maryland have spoken: there is no place for the death penalty in our state," Jealous said in an email to reporters.

"The death penalty is not only expensive and biased, it fails to deter crime and risks innocent lives. As the 1st state to outlaw the death penalty below the Mason-Dixon Line, the 'Maryland Strategy' becomes the new model for other states. We will replicate this strategy elsewhere. We will abolish the death penalty in every state within our lifetimes."

Source: Associated Press, May 31, 2013

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Missouri Supreme Court declines to halt execution of man who killed couple in 2006

Oklahoma | Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith denied stay of execution

Indonesia | Bali Prosecutors Seeking Death on Appeal

Ohio dad could still face death penalty in massacre of 3 sons after judge tosses confession

China | Former gaming executive sentenced to death in poisoning of billionaire Netflix producer

Iran | Couple hanged in the Central Prison of Tabriz