Maryland governor will commute sentences of state's remaining death-row inmates
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced on Wednesday that he will commute the sentences of the state’s four remaining death-row inmates to life in prison without parole.
O’Malley acted after Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler said the state no longer had the authority to conduct executions. The state abolished the death penalty nearly two years ago. Bloomberg News, the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Times have stories.
“In my judgment, leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland–present or future.” he said in a statement. “Gubernatorial inaction–at this point in the legal process–would, in my judgment, needlessly and callously subject survivors, and the people of Maryland, to the ordeal of an endless appeals process, with unpredictable twists and turns, and without any hope of finality or closure.”
O’Malley has only three weeks left in his term as governor. Bloomberg and the Washington Times describe him as a possible Democratic presidential candidate.
Hat tip to @justin_fenton.
