O'Malley commutes Maryland's last four death sentences [View all]

[George II]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Outgoing Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley took the state's last four inmates off death row Wednesday, commuting their sentences to life in prison without parole in one of his final acts in office.

The move comes as the Democrat considers a run for president -- a long-shot bid that many Democrats only expect to gain steam if Hillary Clinton opts not to run.

O'Malley's office announced the move in a release Wednesday morning, noting that the state's legislature had abolished the death penalty with a law that took effect in May 2013 and that the state's courts and attorney general have questioned whether the state has legal authority to carry out death sentences that were already imposed.

"In the final analysis, there is one truth that stands between and before all of us," O'Malley said in a statement. "That truth is this -- few of us would ever wish for our children or grandchildren to kill another human being or to take part in the killing of another human being. The legislature has expressed this truth by abolishing the death penalty in Maryland."


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/31/politics/omalley-commutes-marylands-last-four-death-sentences/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

---

With a brave action like this, I'd vote for him for President.

This may be the most important statement regarding the death penalty in the US:

"That truth is this -- few of us would ever wish for our children or grandchildren to kill another human being or to take part in the killing of another human being.