Governor Weighs Compromise Plan on Death Penalty

Short of Repeal, O'Malley Seeks Limits

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who testified last month in favor of repealing Maryland's death penalty, has started exploring a compromise with lawmakers that would limit the possibility of execution to just a few types of offenders, such as inmates who kill prison guards.

Aides to O'Malley (D) say that such a deal might be the best hope for passing legislation that would tighten the scope of the state's death penalty. But that could put the governor at odds with advocates of a repeal, who say that the strategy could backfire and result in a bill that differs little from current law.

A debate that has focused on the death penalty's value as a deterrent along with problems with lethal injection, advocates say, could degenerate into a fight over which categories of killers -- including those who kidnap, rape and abuse children -- should be eligible for execution.

In an interview yesterday, O'Malley said he thinks most lawmakers are firm in their views on the death penalty, which could make it difficult to persuade enough of them to support a full repeal.

"I don't see that changing a lot in the four years ahead," O'Malley said. "I try to make progress wherever we can make progress, trusting future leaders and generations to reach perfection."

O'Malley met this week with Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Frederick), who is widely considered to hold the swing vote on the Senate committee considering the repeal, about whether he could support a bill narrowing eligibility for the death penalty.

Mooney, who has also talked with an O'Malley legislative aide, said he is trying to keep an open mind. Among those he said he would like to see remain eligible for the death penalty are people who kill police officers and prison guards.

"I've never been for a full repeal of the death penalty, but I've left the door open a crack that maybe I could vote for an amended bill," said Mooney, a conservative Republican and practicing Catholic.

Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore), lead sponsor of the repeal effort in the House, is among several death penalty opponents who have said that nothing short of a full repeal is acceptable.

"We want a repeal of the death penalty," Rosenberg said. "It's a system that's broken. We can't tinker with it. We can't fix it. We can't just limit it to a certain number of crimes."

During testimony before legislative panels last month, O'Malley said that the death penalty is "inherently unjust" because wrongly convicted people could be put to death.

He also said that there is no evidence that executions are an effective deterrent to murder and that money spent prosecuting death penalty cases could be better spent fighting violent crime.