Death Penalty

Gov. Martin O'Malley is set to meet with NAACP president Benjamin Jealous Thursday morning to discuss topics including repealing the death penalty, according to a spokeswoman for the governor. The meeting, planned for 9:30 a.m. at the state house, was granted at Jealous's request. "They are meeting," said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "The death penalty will be a topic of discussion. " The NAACP will hold a news conference after the meeting. This year, the civil rights organization plans a major push for full repeal of the death penalty.

More than three dozen legal scholars and attorneys — including former Gov. Harry R. Hughes and two former Maryland attorneys general, J. Joseph Curran Jr. and Stephen H. Sachs — are sending a letter and report to members of the General Assembly urging the repeal of the state's death penalty. "There's a lot of misconception about Maryland's law" among legislators and the general public, said Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions, which organized the lobbying effort.

A registered sex offender accused of killing an 11-year-old Salisbury girl last year received notice Friday of prosecutors' intention to seek the death penalty. James Leggs Jr. was reindicted Friday on charges of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual offense and kidnapping in the death of Sarah Haley Foxwell, whose body was found Christmas Day in a wooded area in Delmar. Leggs, 30, was served Friday afternoon at the Wicomico County Detention Center with notice of prosecutors' intent to seek both the death penalty and life without possibility of parole.

Your article on the trial of two men charged with killing a correctional officer caught my eye because the case could result in the first death sentence in Maryland since the state changed its death penalty law in 2006 ("Trial opens in prison officer's killing," Jan. 12). A 2003 study found that a defendant is six times more likely to receive the death penalty when the victim is white. Since the victim in this case, Officer David McGuinn, was African-American, it seems statistically unlikely this case will result in the death penalty.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said Wednesday that he will make sure that legislation to repeal Maryland's death penalty gets a vote in his chamber if the governor lines up enough support for approval. Despite his personal support of the death penalty, Miller said, he would give Gov. Martin O'Malley the opportunity to win passage of such legislation — which has been bottled up in a Senate committee. "If he shows me the votes, if he's got the votes on the floor of the Senate, then we'll find a way to move it forward," Miller said in an interview.

As Maryland lawmakers debate whether to ban capital punishment in the state, The Sun will host prominent advocates on both sides of the issue for its first Newsmaker Forum of 2013. National NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, who has helped marshal support for the repeal effort, and Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, an opponent of repeal, will answer questions from Sun editors and members of the audience. The event will take place from 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21 at The Sun building, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore.

The Maryland Senate voted Wednesday to make Maryland the 18th state to abolish the death penalty, putting Gov. Martin O'Malley one step closer to a significant legislative victory. The 27-20 vote sent the bill to the House of Delegates, where repeal supporters believe they have enough backing to send the legislation to the governor. Two Republicans - Sens. Edward R. Reilly of Anne Arundel County and Allan H. Kittleman of Howard County - joined 25 Democrats in supporting repeal.

State Sen. Allan Kittleman is torn. When lobbied by the ACLU and the NAACP to repeal Maryland's death penalty, Kittleman asks how he can ensure the most heinous murderers will never kill again. When approached by fellow senators or state's attorneys who want to keep capital punishment, Kittleman questions whether there can be a foolproof way to ensure the state doesn't kill an innocent person. "My mindset on this has always been divided," said Kittleman, a Howard County Republican who hopes to skip his own committee to listen to another panel's death penalty hearings before the legislation reaches the Senate floor.

Outside observers must wonder what goes on in our state legislature. On one hand, the majority restricts citizens' ability to defend themselves against multiple armed assailants, thus implying the executive branch's competence to protect us. On the other hand, the same majority eliminates capital punishment, thus implying the incompetence of the judicial branch to arrive at accurate verdicts. Perhaps now victims of multiple armed assailants can mount a class action lawsuit against the legislators who voted to give the advantage in firepower to criminals.

Ben Jealous, the national NAACP president, came to Annapolis Tuesday to call on Maryland legislators to make this the year the state does away with the death penalty. Flanked by several legislators, Jealous said he intends to return to Annapolis repeatedly through the 90-day legislative session that starts Wednesday to work for repeal. Death penalty opponents have come close in recent years to securing the votes needed to remove capital punishment from the books, but each time have fallen a few votes short.