After state senate vote, Maryland appears poised to repeal its (already dormant) death penalty

As reported in this extended Washting Post article, earier today the "Maryland Senate voted 27 to 20 to repeal the state’s death penalty Wednesday after four days of heated and emotional debate, putting Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) on the brink of a long-sought legislative victory." Here are more details and context:

Supporters of the legislation argued that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent, is costly and creates the risk of executing innocent people.... Opponents countered that the death penalty can be an important law-enforcement tool and should be kept on the books for heinous cases, several of which were recounted in graphic detail on the Senate floor....

The bill moves next to the House of Delegates, where repeal advocates say they are confident they have the votes. The Senate had long been viewed as the tallest hurdle for the legislation.   O’Malley’s repeal bill was introduced this session with 67 co-sponsors in the House, leaving supporters just four delegates to sway to get a majority. Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore), a champion of the legislation, said he is confident his side has the votes to prevail in coming weeks.

Maryland voters could have the final say on the issue, however.  If the bill passes the House, opponents have vowed to make use of a provision in the state Constitution that allows citizens to petition recently passed laws to the ballot, as happened with same-sex marriage last year.  The outcome of a death penalty referendum would be far from certain.

A Washington Post poll released last week showed that a majority of Marylanders want to keep the death penalty on the books despite widespread skepticism across the state about whether capital punishment is a deterrent to murder or is applied fairly.

O’Malley’s bill would replace death sentences with life in prison without the possibility of parole. It would not affect the five inmates currently on death row in Maryland, leaving it to the governor to determine whether to commute their sentences....

Maryland would become the 18th state to abolish the death penalty, and the sixth in six years, reflecting new momentum for repeal efforts nationally. The NAACP has put a priority on the issue and is focused heavily on Maryland this year.

Maryland has has not carried out an execution since 2005, when O’Malley’s Republican predecessor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., was in office.  The state has had an effective moratorium on capital punishment since December 2006, the month before O’Malley took office, when Maryland’s highest court ruled that regulations on lethal injection had not been properly adopted.

The O’Malley administration has yet to implement new regulations, and the shortage of a drug prescribed in Maryland for executions could complicate the efforts of any future governor to resume executions.  Some opponents of the repeal harshly criticized O’Malley for failing to move forward during the past several years. “It’s hard to say something doesn’t work if you don’t use it,” Colburn argued.

Two Republicans joined 25 Democrats in the chamber in voting for the repeal on Wednesday. The measure was opposed by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats.

Debate on the measure was dominated by efforts to create exceptions to the repeal. Bill supporters fended off more than a dozen amendments, including provisions that would have allowed executions to continue for people who kill law-enforcement officers, for people who kill while in prison and people who rape their victims before killing them.

Recent related posts:

• Maryland legislature moves one step closer to repealing state's death penalty
• New poll indicates most Maryland citizens do not support death penalty repeal efforts