Death repeal stymied

Gov. urges compromise on capital punishment

General Assembly 2009

O'Malley said yesterday that it did not make sense to implement regulations while the General Assembly was considering a repeal. But as the session ends next month, he said, he will do just that.

Death penalty opponents were hopeful for a repeal after a governor-appointed commission led by former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti found geographic and racial disparities in the way capital punishment is applied in Maryland and recommended abolishing it. The commission, which included Rosenberg and other lawmakers, found that the death penalty was expensive and ineffective at deterring crime.

Del. Adrienne A. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat and repeal proponent who served on the Civiletti commission, said she was disappointed that her fellow lawmakers do not seem to have read the commission's findings.

"I take it personally - all the time that we spent," she said, referring to the more than 35 hours of testimony over five months.

Civiletti and other commission members are likely to testify Tuesday.

Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., judiciary chairman and a Democrat from Calvert and Prince George's counties, said he decided to have his committee hear the repeal and the Senate plan at the same time. A death penalty supporter in the past, Vallario said he has no idea where his committee stands on the issue.

Rosenberg, however, predicted only the Senate plan would survive. "You don't send out two conflicting bills," he said, "even if you can."