Maryland's Legal Victory: Goodbye, DP!

The State of Maryland repealed capital punishment! The ceremony during which Governor O'Malley signed the repeal was attended by Kirk Bloodsworth, a one-time Maryland death row inmate who was the first person in the United States freed by DNA evidence. The repeal does not affect the fates of five people on Maryland's death row, but the governor can commute their sentences to life without parole. Maryland is the 18th state to end capital punishment and the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to do so.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/us/maryland-death-penalty

A day after Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a bill to repeal the death penalty in Maryland, opponents of the measure announced a petition drive to allow voters to overturn the law in 2014. The law repealing Maryland's death penalty will take effect as scheduled on October 1 after opponents failed to collect enough signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote. MDPetitions.com, the group that helped put same-sex marriage and two other issues on last year’s ballot, confirmed at a May 31, 2013 afternoon news conference that it was unable to replicate its success. Facing a midnight deadline to submit an initial batch of signatures, the group instead ended its effort.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-31/local/39650216_1_death-penalty-repeal-signatures-mdpetitions-com

Below is an excerpt from an article dated October 21, 2011:

How many countries have the death penalty?
Capital punishment laws are on the books in 91 countries, but only 23 of them carried out any executions last year. The U.S. executed 46 people last year, and 37 so far this year — more than any other country, except for the dictatorships of China, North Korea, Iran, and Yemen. In most parts of the modern world, the practice appears to be in steep decline. Since 1976, a total of 123 countries have effectively abolished the death penalty as a barbaric legacy of the past. All signs point to an unmistakable downward trend, says Mario Marazziti, co-founder of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "There is worldwide growth of a new moral standard of decency and of respect for human rights," he said, "even the rights and lives of those who may have committed severe crimes."

http://theweek.com/article/index/220497/the-death-penalty-in-decline

Hopefully, more states south of the Mason-Dixon line will follow Maryland's lead. Southern states cling to the death penalty even though the public is turning against DP for the following reasons:

~ It targets the poor
~ It is racist
~ It kills the innocent
~ It does not deter crime
~ It is barbaric
~ It is expensive (up to an additional $90,000 per year per condemned inmate)

Message to my pro-DP brothers and sisters in Christ: You misrepresent Jesus Christ, and I certainly hope you do not want to do that. Prisoners are either saved people who have been granted God's forgiveness, or they are unsaved people who are eligible for God's forgiveness. Please listen to and share this audiotape - MaryLovesJustice Show Tape 1 "End DP in Bible Belt States" at this TalkShoe link http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=621240&cmd=apop . After the first 45 minutes, there is a two-minute pause inserted by cyberstalkers, then the tape continues for another hour. I trust that you will prayerfully reconsider capital punishment. All have sinned and come short of God's glory, but "THERE IS A FOUNTAIN" http://youtu.be/IaGKfCh7OBo . Thank you.

Congratulations to Governor Martin O'Malley and the Maryland State Legislature for freeing your citizens of the financial burden and moral sin of executions.

Repeat of paragraph 1: The State of Maryland repealed capital punishment! The ceremony during which Governor O'Malley signed the repeal was attended by Kirk Bloodsworth, a one-time Maryland death row inmate who was the first person in the United States freed by DNA evidence. The repeal does not affect the fates of five people on Maryland's death row, but the governor can commute their sentences to life without parole. Maryland is the 18th state to end capital punishment and the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to do so.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/us/maryland-death-penalty