Armed with a recommendation from a state commission to abolish Maryland's death penalty, opponents who have long sought to end the practice are hoping to finally put the matter to rest by pressuring key lawmakers to switch their votes.
With many opinions solidified on the personal and divisive issue, anti-death penalty and religious activists are focused on converting just one lawmaker on a Senate committee. Many Annapolis observers say the panel could be the only roadblock to passing a repeal bill - but getting the single vote needed to send the legislation to the floor for an up-or-down vote is far from certain.
One potential swing vote is first-term Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire, an Anne Arundel County Republican who attended Bob Jones University and belongs to the National Rifle Association. The engineer, who has voted against a repeal in the past, is regarded by liberal Democratic peers as a thoughtful legislator.
"I'm truly interested in seeing the facts," Simonaire said. "I'm going in with an open mind."
The renewed focus on the death penalty comes amid a number of related events.
A commission appointed by legislative leaders and Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Roman Catholic and death penalty foe, voted this week to urge an end to capital punishment in Maryland, while the administration moves forward with execution protocols that could end two years of a de-facto moratorium.
Death penalty opponents plan to be active in the districts of lawmakers who might be swayed. They are likely to enlist the likes of Sister Helen Prejean, whose story of counseling a death-row inmate became the film Dead Man Walking, and Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien. Cardinal William H. Keeler, who previously held that post, has personally reached out to Catholic lawmakers on the issue.
"We're going to make it as difficult as a possible for members to vote against the death penalty repeal," said Richard J. Dowling, a lobbyist for the Maryland Catholic Conference. "We're not going to pull any punches. We're going to pull out all the stops."
It's unclear what kind of impact the commission's final report, due next month, will have on the debate. The Maryland commission is basing its recommendation in part on racial and jurisdictional disparities in the application of capital punishment - findings contained in previous reports.
New Jersey banned executions last year after a similar panel recommended the move on a 12-1 vote, a decision that displayed more unanimity than this week's 13-7 vote in Maryland.
