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Time For an Up-Or-Down Death Penalty Vote in MD

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 04:32:00 PM EST
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A bill to repeal the death penalty in Maryland has for years fallen one vote shy of being recommended to the full Senate. A Washington Post editorial explains why this is the year the full Senate should consider (and pass) the bill.

Even some supporters of the death penalty admit that the evidence presented by the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment was compelling. The commission, chaired by former U.S. attorney general Benjamin Civiletti, concluded that capital punishment has little deterrent effect on murder and that the extended legal proceedings may add to the anguish of the victim's family. The commission also found that capital punishment is applied inconsistently across the state and that prosecutors are more likely to pursue a death sentence if the victim is white.

It's time for an up-or-down vote in the full Senate. Members of the deadlocked committee should give the full Senate a chance to decide the question.

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    Time For an Up-Or-Down Death Penalty Vote in MD | 6 comments (6 topical)

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    compelling evidence? (none / 0) (#1)
    by diogenes on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 07:25:05 PM EST
    1.  "little" deterrent effect is not the same as "no" deterrent effect.
    2.  Some people plead guilty to LWOP to avoid the death penalty, thus sparing families the agony of trials.  Without the death penalty, all cases will go to trial or plead down further.
    3.  If people plead down from LWOP to 30 years to life, the families will have years of having to go back to parole hearings.  Hardly fun.


    Well, "it's hardly fun" (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:17:41 AM EST
    to get executed for a murder you didn't commit. I've also heard that it isn't fun for the families of those who are wrongfully convicted. Surely, you can't be totally oblivious to the findings of the Innocence Project.

    Parent
    You're assuming (none / 0) (#6)
    by TChris on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 02:00:06 PM EST
    families of victims would inevitably attend parole hearings and oppose parole, which isn't always the case.  And if the first parole hearing doesn't occur for 30 years (assuming the offender lives that long), there may not be any surviving family members to worry about it.  Not much of a trade-off, it seems to me, to have the assurance that we don't execute the innocent.

    By the way, some innocent people plead guilty to avoid the risk of death, as well.  If death weren't on the table, those people wouldn't be afraid to exercise their right to a trial where (one hopes) they could avoid a wrongful conviction.

    Parent

    TChris, just wanted to offer (none / 0) (#2)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:13:35 AM EST
    my sincere thanks for this all-important post on the death penalty issue. I find it rather remarkable that WaPo's editorial actually supports the Maryland repeal bill. If only they could be more consistently progressive, and if only more would follow. I need to see this thing end during my lifetime.

    diogenes, (none / 0) (#4)
    by cpinva on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 01:32:14 AM EST
    are you really as stupid as you come off, or are you just attempting (poorly) to play "devil's advocate"? i ask because, invariably, your "arguments" are low-hanging fruit, easily knocked off.

    after roughly 10,000 years of human civilization, which included capital punishment from pretty much day one, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment just now figured out that executing people hasn't ever stopped other murders from occuring? bravo for concluding the monstrously obvious!

    that, diogenes, would be the "deterrent" effect sought, and human history provides the

    compelling evidence?
    of its truth. as to "little" deterrent effect, please provide the class with your empirical data supporting your contention.

    thanks so much for playing diogenes, please come again. you'll receive a copy of the home version, as a lovely parting gift!

    Aw give those guys (none / 0) (#5)
    by jondee on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 12:50:45 PM EST
    SOMETHING cp: as it is, they're down to Jesus was a Republican and Iraq MIGHT be a democracy some day.

    So what if they still bump people off at an alarming rate in Texas and Florida? Some day the the detterent trickle down will go into effect.

    Time For an Up-Or-Down Death Penalty Vote in MD | 6 comments (6 topical)

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