Maryland Governor Will Commute All Remaining Death Sentences To Life Without Parole
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/31/3607374/maryland-martin-omalley-death-sentences-commuted/Maryland Governor Will Commute All Remaining Death Sentences To Life Without Parole
by Josh Israel
Posted on December 31, 2014 at 11:12 am
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) will commute all remaining death sentences for those in the state’s prison system to life without parole, he announced Wednesday. Maryland’s General Assembly repealed the state’s death penalty in 2013 for all future convictions.
In a statement, O’Malley said, “In a representative government, state executions make every citizen a party to a legalized killing as punishment.” He noted that the legality of executing the four remaining death row inmates was in question and argued that “leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland — present or future.”
O’Malley, who signed the 2013 repeal into law, leaves office next month after serving the state’s maximum of two consecutive terms. Over his tenure, the state enacted marriage equality, created a state-level “DREAM” act to allow undocumented children to pay in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities, banned several assault weapons, and incentivized off-shore wind power.
Maryland’s governor-elect, Republican Larry Hogan, said in the campaign that he would have voted against repealing the state’s death penalty, but that he does not plan to attempt to reinstate it. Maryland was the 18th state to repeal its capital punishment law.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Now that we have a new right wing backed Chris Christie hack governor, who (Christie) might be indicted under some federal shenanigans lets not forget, this will not look real good for Hogan and his buddies / cronies as they try to move forward, I give him thirty days before he goes back on one of his promises
We are now going to see the right wing attack of the state pension fund and blame all the public employees, except police and firemen and woman and go into the republican divide and conquer mode of government, pitting one union against another to attack an earned pension, and pitting other workers against other workers and trying to give corporations millions in welfare and tax breaks and saying he is giving it to the "small business man or woman----- right.
We are going to see all of the republicans come out of the proverbial wood work and blame all the ills of this state on democrats, nope, its not going to happen, we have to look no further than one Andy Harris a do nothing republican congressman from the eastern shore meddling in DC politics, instead of this state, he does not take care one iota for anyone except his right wing backed Club for Growth hypocrites and there greed.
He left his job at John Hopkins and went to make 174,000 a year doing nothing in a republican controlled congress and was on vacation over 244 days ---nice job Harris, not one jobs bill in the two years you been in office---not one
