Why does Martin O Malley want to abolish the death penalty?”
In evaluating whether Maryland’s criminal death penalty should be replaced with life without parole, one must be guided by the answers to two basic questions: · Is the death penalty a just punishment for murder? · Is the death penalty an effective deterrent to murder? Most of us would point to the execution of John Thanos, here in our state, as an example of a “just” application of the death penalty. Thanos murdered three teenagers, at random, by shooting them point-blank. He expressed no remorse, even declaring in court that he wished he could bring his innocent victims back to life to kill them again. In the end, he demanded to be executed and was. Most Marylanders felt, basically, that “hanging was too good” for John Thanos. Did this one relatively humane execution balance out a violent murder — much less three violent murders? Can any execution really be said to “even the ledger” for the taking of another’s unique life? Contrast that with the case of Kirk Bloodsworth, also in Mary
A part of Washington times article. Mr. O’Malley urged the committee to consider “what kind of society we want to be in and what kind of society we hope to leave for our children.” Also last week, Mr. O’Malley urged about 300 people who were in Annapolis for the African Methodist Episcopal Church legislative day to write petitions to lawmakers on the issue. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Prince George’s Democrat who opposes a repeal of the death penalty, said Wednesday that he will not fight efforts to move the legislation out of committee without a vote. Mr. O’Malley cited practical objections to capital punishment. “The death penalty did nothing to help us achieve the second largest reduction in homicides in nearly a quarter century last year,” he told about 100 Maryland church leaders at the rally near the State House Building in Annapolis.
In evaluating whether Maryland’s criminal death penalty should be replaced with life without parole, one must be guided by the answers to two basic questions: Is the death penalty a just punishment for murder? · Is the death penalty an effective deterrent to murder? Most of us would point to the execution of John Thanos, here in our state, as an example of a “just” application of the death penalty. Thanos murdered three teenagers, at random, by shooting them point-blank. He expressed no remorse, even declaring in court that he wished he could bring his innocent victims back to life to kill them again. In the end, he demanded to be executed and was. Most Marylanders felt, basically, that “hanging was too good” for John Thanos. Did this one relatively humane execution balance out a violent murder — much less three violent murders? Can any execution really be said to “even the ledger” for the taking of another’s unique life? Contrast that with the case of Kirk Bloodsworth, also in Maryla
