11.14.2008

Maryland Considers Abolishing the Death Penalty

I came across some good news today: the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment has recommended that the state abolish the death penalty. They cite the "real possibility" of executing an innocent person and the huge costs associated with death penalty cases going through the court system. Hopefully they make the right choice!

Read more from the Washington Post or the ACLU blog.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's nice to hear. Is there anything we can do to encourage the decision? Letter-writing? Phone-banking?

austin said...

Great question! You can contact Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley who commissioned the panel. It sounds like he is opposed to the death penalty already, but getting emails from lots of people could encourage him to take more urgent and forceful action on the subject. You could also write to individual Maryland state legislators, especially if you are from Maryland, to encourage them to take action on this report. And there's always the opportunity to discuss these issues with roommates and friends to help educate the public, no matter where they're from.

And if you're really motivated, there's a link on the right hand side of our page here (somewhere!) titled "What Can I Do?" that has links to other specific actions you can take on various human rights issues.