Death Penalty

Sensing a real chance to abolish the death penalty in Maryland after years of trying, opponents of capital punishment brought a parade of religious, political and civil rights leaders to Annapolis Thursday to urge lawmakers to do away with the ultimate sanction. Roman Catholic Archbishop William E. Lori, testifying before a legislative committee for the first time since taking the helm of the Archdiocese of Baltimore last year, said he had come to Annapolis to throw the church's support behind the repeal effort.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori came to Annapolis Thursday with a simple message: Repeal of the death penalty is a matter of human dignity. In an interview with The Sun before his appearance before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee's hearing on Gov. Martin O'Malley's repeal bill, Lori said that essential dignity extend even to "human persons who do terrible things. " "Our position is there's a better way -- that life without parole is more reasonable if there's any possibility of reform and rehabilitation," he said at the Maryland Catholic Conference's office in Annapolis.

Marylanders should thank The Sun for showing the faces of those convicted murderers and describing their killings ("Death row: Should they die for their crimes?" Feb. 10). They are only alive today because Gov. Martin O'Malley has not acted to give them the penalty mandated by their trial and the law, giving them additional life with his countless delays. These people are alive today only because the same justice system that death penalty opponents point to as unfairly sentencing them is the same justice system treating their victims and victims' families so unfairly by keeping them alive.

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.

At the time of her brother's arrest and trial, Patricia Booth-Townes supported the death penalty — "an eye for an eye," as she put it. Even after her brother was sentenced to die, she says, she didn't waver. She just didn't believe he'd committed that heinous crime, despite the evidence presented in court. But years later, while studying criminal justice at Coppin State University, she found herself researching capital punishment. She almost couldn't avoid it, she said, because her textbook mentioned her brother's case, which set a constitutional precedent for the use of "victim impact statements" in sentencing.

Sandra Richardson and Bonnita Spikes have much in common. Both live in Upper Marlboro and are churchgoing Christians who have worked in nursing. Both have dealt with the pain of losing people they loved in murders. When it comes to the death penalty, however, the two women are on opposite sides of one of the most divisive issues facing the General Assembly this year. Richardson, 74, hopes to go to Annapolis this week to testify against Gov. Martin O'Malley's effort to end capital punishment in Maryland as she did when the governor made a similar effort four years ago. She'd like to tell lawmakers about her 38-year-old daughter, Lisa Richardson, who was strangled at her Charles County home in 2001 by a man who received a life sentence in a plea bargain.

Thank you for printing the pros and cons of the death penalty debate ("Time to abolish the death penalty in Md.?" Jan. 18). Like many Maryland citizens, I continue to grapple with this contentious issue in an effort to reach an informed position, and I have re-read the positions of Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger, Sister Helen Prejean and Del. Heather Mizeur of Montgomery County for their clarity and insight. As often happens in highly charged debates, emotional responses generate much heat but a more factual perspective sheds greater light on the issue.

Proponents of repeal of the death penalty have picked up a potentially pivotal vote in the Senate with the decision of Sen. Ronald N. Young of Frederick County to support an end to executions in Maryland. In an interview last night, the previously undecided Young said he had made up his mind to vote for the bill backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley and to resist amendments aimed at thwarting full repeal.  "It's more costly to execute (murderers) than to keep them for life," Young said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to highlight how Maryland better weathered the recession by making "better choices" as he delivers his seventh State of the State address to the General Assembly on Wednesday. The speech's theme, which exalts Maryland over other states, amplifies O'Malley's broader message that his governance produces results.  "Progress is a choice. Job creation is a choice. Whether we give our children a future of more or a future of less, this too is a choice," O'Malley's speech reads, according to excerpts released in advance.

Moments after Gov. Martin O'Malley urged lawmakers that "it is time to repeal the death penalty in Maryland and replace it with life without parole" during his State of the State speech Wednesday, a Roman Catholic nun famous for her repeal work resumed the effort to secure the votes. Sister Helen Prejean, whose autobiography "Dead Man Walking" detailing her work with death row inmates was made into a movie, planned to meet Wednesday with undecided lawmakers. She said she was pleased that O'Malley had created a simple framework that cast the death penalty as an ineffective tool that isn't worth using.