Death Penalty

Democrats in Annapolis are trying again to repeal Maryland's death penalty. Delegates and senators announced Thursday that they're resubmitting a bill to end capital punishment in Maryland, which has five people on death row. One repeal advocate, Del. Anne Healey, D-Prince George's, also said the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has withdrawn proposed death-penalty procedures from review. Sodium thiopental, a drug Maryland and other states use as part of the lethal-injection process, is no longer available in the United States.

The Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney's Office Wednesday morning filed the necessary legal documents to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his mother. Marcus Wallace, 40, is charged with both first- and second-degree murder in the death of his mother. Consuella Wallace, 70, suffered a depressed skull fracture after someone made forcible entry in a window of her Hamilton Township, Pa., home on Dec. 10, 2009, and attacked her. She died in February 2010.

Surrounded by a phalanx of legislators and death penalty opponents, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Tuesday that his office will make a firm push to repeal the death penalty in the state this legislative session. “The death penalty is expensive and it does not work. And for that reason alone, I believe we should stop doing it,” O'Malley said at a press conference at the Senate Office Building where he was joined by Benjamin Jealous, the president and the CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

A Hagerstown man whose family has been through three murders has again joined the anti-death-penalty movement this year. Marty Price of Hagerstown spoke Wednesday in Annapolis at a press conference and a Senate hearing on a repeal bill, telling a story he said he doesn't often tell. Price's father, Mervil Price, was convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife, Betty Jane Price, and his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Sherri Lynn Unger, in their Hickory Lane town house in 1988.

Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the death penalty trial of a man accused of killing a game warden in central Pennsylvania almost two years ago. The trial of 29-year-old Christopher Johnson of Carroll Valley is set to begin in Adams County Court. Johnson is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of state wildlife officer David Grove in November 2010. Officials say Grove was patrolling a dark stretch of rural road near Gettysburg when he confronted a poacher and was shot four times.  An out-of-town jury was brought in to hear the case after defense attorneys argued that “pervasive and sustained” publicity made it impossible for their client to get a fair trial.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's guest column last week titled “ Racially biased death penalty must be abolished ” presented his opinion and several discussion points in support of abolishing the death penalty in the State of Maryland. (The Maryland General Assembly approved a ban of the death penalty March 15). Brown also shared a major point to all readers that Attorney General Doug Gansler does not support the abolishment of the death penalty.  Sounds like a little politicking to me. Even though the lieutenant governor made some interesting arguments, the death penalty is favored by many in Maryland and across the country as well.Perhaps we should seek some additional comments on the subject.

Marlin Martin of Smithsburg said that the death penalty in Maryland should “stay as it is” and rejected the argument that there is a risk of executing an innocent person. “I think that does not happen often,” Martin, 71, said. “When capital punishment is practiced, that person no longer will have an opportunity to commit a crime, and I think that far outweighs the fact that someone innocent might be executed.” Sheridan Webb of Hagerstown, however, said that the death penalty is “unfair” and that life in prison for “heinous crimes” should be enough to keep criminals from committing more crimes.

Well, (that's how Ronald Reagan opened a lot of his remarks) I'm no Ronald Reagan but I'm interested in what's going on in our nation and in particular our state.  First, let me clearly say I'm no fan of Del. Neil Parrott. Anyone who runs on a platform of “more jobs” and doesn't sponsor a single “jobs bill” during three legislation sessions certainly doesn't seem very genuine to me.  However, Neil got it right in his effort to bring some sanity to the legislation repealing the death penalty in Maryland.

Kevin M. Cleeves' return to Pennsylvania this week to face criminal homicide charges begins a lengthy series of legal proceedings, one result of which could be the death penalty. Legal experts polled by The Herald-Mail said, at first glance, the July 27 killings of three people in Quincy Township, Pa., could qualify the shooter for the state's harshest penalty. Cleeves, 35, of Waynesboro, is charged with three counts of criminal homicide in the shooting deaths of his wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's mother.

Well, (that's how Ronald Reagan opened a lot of his remarks) I'm no Ronald Reagan but I'm interested in what's going on in our nation and in particular our state.  First, let me clearly say I'm no fan of Del. Neil Parrott. Anyone who runs on a platform of “more jobs” and doesn't sponsor a single “jobs bill” during three legislation sessions certainly doesn't seem very genuine to me.  However, Neil got it right in his effort to bring some sanity to the legislation repealing the death penalty in Maryland.

Jury selection began Monday in Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas for the capital murder trial of a man accused of beating his mother to death. The trial is expected to start later this week for Marcus Wallace, 42, who is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the beating death of his 70-year-old mother, Consuella Wallace. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. One by one, potential jurors are submitting to questioning by attorneys and a judge brought in from another county.

Opponents of a measure to repeal the death penalty in Maryland said Friday they fell short of their goal to collect enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot in the 2014 election. Del. Neil C. Parrott, one of the leaders of the effort, said about 15,000 signatures were collected since the beginning of May. That number fell short of the nearly 18,600 certified signatures required by the Friday deadline. Friday's deadline was the initial hurdle. A total of about 55,750 certified signatures were needed by the end of June for the issue to go to a voter referendum.

Hagerstown Tea Party supporters gathered at the Beaver Creek Country Club on Thursday night to hear Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, talk about the recently concluded session of the Maryland General Assembly and a drive to collect petitions to challenge the repeal of the death penalty through a referendum in the 2014 elections. Parrott said at the gathering - a general meeting of the Hagerstown Tea Party attended by about 20 people - that he was extremely disappointed with passage of measures such as the increase in the state gasoline tax and the gun-control bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday.

Like me, Del. Neil Parrott seems to believe that any publicity is good publicity. So OK, I'll bite. Building on his tremendous success in the November election, Petitioner Parrott is having a go at the state's newly enacted law banning the death penalty. Forget his oh-fer on gay marriage, immigration, et al. His MDPetitions group announced last week it would attempt to collect the necessary signatures to put the death penalty repeal up to a statewide vote. Love the way they're using social media to further the cause.

Although she opposes the death penalty, Hagerstown resident Lisa Bennett said Monday she thinks Maryland residents should have a chance to vote on it. “I believe in forgiveness, but some of the crimes that are committed are so heinous that the death penalty is the only way some families can get closure,” said Bennett, 53. “I feel the residents of Maryland have the right to vote on this because it affects our communities and affects our families.”...

A Republican Washington County delegate, with help from Democrats, is mounting a challenge to the repeal of the death penalty, a measure that was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier this week. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, announced the start of a petition drive at a press conference in Baltimore on Friday. With him were Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, and Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County. “Life is extremely precious ... but, for example, if someone does something like the attack on the Boston marathon, they deserve the death penalty,” Parrott said, noting that the press conference was held not far from the finishing line of the Baltimore Marathon.

If the longstanding rumors are true and Gov. Martin O'Malley really does have his sights set on a presidential nomination, the 2013 legislative session could go a long way toward solidifying his liberal qualifications for a Democratic primary electorate. The list of legislation from the 2013 session reads like a progressive's wish list: Pass some of the strictest gun-control laws in the country, repeal the death penalty, legalize medical marijuana, increase taxes on gasoline and subsidize offshore wind power.

Legislators in Annapolis spent a marathon day Monday in sessions spread throughout the day and the evening as they addressed business one last time before the Maryland General Assembly adjourned at midnight. Republican lawmakers from Washington County expressed fears that the state had veered too far to the left during the current session with a gun-control measure, the repeal of the death penalty and a hike in the gas tax. But Gov. Martin O'Malley appeared to be what could be called a celebratory mood, thanking Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, D-Calvert/Prince George's, and Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, for the smooth and orderly passages of some of the measures.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's guest column last week titled “ Racially biased death penalty must be abolished ” presented his opinion and several discussion points in support of abolishing the death penalty in the State of Maryland. (The Maryland General Assembly approved a ban of the death penalty March 15). Brown also shared a major point to all readers that Attorney General Doug Gansler does not support the abolishment of the death penalty.  Sounds like a little politicking to me. Even though the lieutenant governor made some interesting arguments, the death penalty is favored by many in Maryland and across the country as well.Perhaps we should seek some additional comments on the subject.