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>>The time has come to repeal Maryland's death penalty. A 2008 commission recently completed an unprecedented, comprehensive examination of the state's death penalty. After five months of study and dozens of hours of testimony, the commission found the system broken beyond repair. Among their findings:
- The risk of executing an innocent person is a real possibility in the state of Maryland.
- The death penalty is more expensive than life without parole.
- The death penalty's complicated process and repeated reversals is harmful to family members of murder victims.
- Maryland's death penalty is plagued by racial and geographic disparity.
- The death penalty does not deter.
The Commission recommended repealing the state's death penalty and replacing it with life without parole.
The Senate took up the repeal bill in March 2009 and ignored many of the commission's findings, instead passing an amended bill that essentially narrowed the death penalty to cases with certain types of evidence. Though falling far short of the repeal that we know is needed in Maryland, this bill is nonetheless an important step forward.
