Bid Fails To Repeal Death Penalty
Senate Committee Deadlocked in Md.

By John Wagner and Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 16, 2007

A bid by lawmakers to repeal Maryland's death penalty collapsed yesterday by a single vote, presenting Gov. Martin O'Malley with an early political defeat but leaving questions about the future of capital punishment in the state in his hands.

Capping weeks of emotional appeals and soul-searching by lawmakers, a state Senate committee deadlocked 5 to 5 on legislation to end executions, preventing it from moving to the chamber's floor. O'Malley (D) strongly supported the bill, which was the subject of intense lobbying by the Catholic Church and other clergy.

The committee's tie vote followed two failed attempts at compromise, one that called for a year-long study of the death penalty and another that sought to limit eligibility for capital punishment to people who kill while in prison.

Maryland has had an effective moratorium on capital punishment since December, when a court ruled that the death penalty could not be carried out until new regulations on lethal injection are submitted by the administration.

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese would not say yesterday when -- or if -- the administration will issue the regulations. The governor could effectively continue the moratorium by doing nothing as long as he is in office.

"We had hoped the legislature would repeal the death penalty," Abbruzzese said. "The governor will take the next few weeks to consider his options going forward."

Several death penalty opponents said they will urge O'Malley to establish a study commission by executive order, an option aides said would be considered. Other lawmakers floated the idea of putting the issue to voters in a referendum.

Supporters and opponents alike predicted that legislative wrangling over the issue would continue. Kirk Bloodsworth, a former death row inmate who has spent the last month lobbying legislators to approve the bill, said he was disappointed by yesterday's deadlock but committed to continuing to fight for a full repeal.

"As long as I'm breathing and living, I'm coming back," said Bloodsworth, who served eight years in prison, two of them on death row, for rape and murder charges that were later dismissed based on DNA evidence.

Five people have been put to death in Maryland since executions resumed in 1978, and there are six on death row.

O'Malley testified to a pair of legislative committees last month that he believes the death penalty is "inherently unjust" because of the risk of executing innocent people, and he argued that it is not an effective deterrent to murder.

Legislation to replace the death penalty with life without parole is still pending in a House committee, but the bill's sponsor said yesterday he does not plan to press for a vote before lawmakers adjourn April 9, given the outcome in the Senate.

Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore) said he would instead urge O'Malley to establish a commission "so there can be more debate and so we can continue discussion next year." Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Baltimore), the bill's Senate sponsor, said she also supports a commission.

Yesterday's committee votes were the culmination of weeks of drama that had focused largely on a single member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Frederick).

Death penalty opponents, including O'Malley, tried to court the support of Mooney, a conservative Catholic who had shared his ambivalence about the death penalty in media interviews.

"As a philosophy major from Dartmouth College who takes matters of faith seriously, I felt I owed it to myself and to my constituents to research and consider this issue with an open mind," Mooney told colleagues at the outset of yesterday's voting session. "Frankly, there are still many unanswered questions out there and I wish I had more time to think them through."

Mooney then offered a proposed amendment limiting capital punishment to those serving prison terms -- a potential compromise he had discussed with O'Malley and his aides.

Under current Maryland law, those convicted of first-degree murder are eligible for the death penalty if prosecutors can prove at least one of 10 aggravating factors, including committing murder while in prison. Other categories include killing a law-enforcement officer or a kidnapping victim.

"The idea of jail is you don't kill anyone," Mooney said in arguing for his amendment.

Gladden strongly resisted, arguing that a full repeal is needed to address "a broken system."

"You can't be a little bit pregnant, and you can't have a little bit of a repeal," Gladden said.

After Mooney's amendment failed on a 9 to 1 vote, Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) proposed a year-long study of the issue. That idea was embraced by Mooney but failed on a cliffhanger, 5 to 5 vote, when the panel's chairman voted against it. Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), said he wanted an up-or-down vote on the full repeal.

One panel member who supports the death penalty, Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford), was absent yesterday due to an out-of-state emergency. But her presence probably would not have affected the outcome of votes because of her support.

Gladden acknowledged during yesterday's voting session that she probably lacked the votes to pass a full repeal on the Senate floor. But she later expressed her optimism that a full repeal will eventually be realized.

"I do believe a repeal in Maryland is not an if issue, it's a when," Gladden said. "We've moved the dialogue a thousand miles from where we were last year."