Maryland AG urges end to state's death penalty - new GOP governor will not continue moratorium on DP

Associated Press ^ | January 31, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Maryland AG urges end to state's death penalty

01/31/2003

Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. called Thursday for Maryland to abolish its death penalty, noting systemic flaws and the possibility that innocent people could be put to death.

Because of the system's "fallibility," he said, capital punishment could come only at the "intolerable cost of executing, every so often, the wrong person." He said 102 people on death rows had been exonerated since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate capital punishment in 1976.

Mr. Curran, a Democrat, outlined his views in a letter sent Wednesday to Gov. Robert Ehrlich and other state leaders. He has been a consistent opponent of the death penalty, saying it does not deter crime.

Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, has said he would not continue a moratorium on the death penalty imposed by Democratic former Gov. Parris Glendening. Mr. Ehrlich has said he would conduct a case-by-case review of death row pleas for clemency that cross his desk.

A recent study by a professor at the University of Maryland at College Park found that race and jurisdiction play significant roles in whether a criminal is sentenced to death in Maryland. Black defendants who kill white victims are statistically more likely to be charged with a capital offense, the study concluded.

Messages left at Mr. Ehrlich's media office were not immediately returned.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/013103dnnatdeath.15bf9.html

[MeekOneGOP]

By all means, lift the moratorium. This is the way to handle the cases:

Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, has said he would not continue a moratorium on the death penalty imposed by Democratic former Gov. Parris Glendening. Mr. Ehrlich has said he would conduct a case-by-case review of death row pleas for clemency that cross his desk.

[goldstategop]

Joseph Curran just wants to score political cheap shots against the state's new GOP governor. Its a flop.

[blau993]

Curran is a disgusting RAT who has a record of using/abusing his office to advance his own political and social agendas. He has said publicly that he wants to abolish private ownership of handguns in Maryland. His "white paper" on the subject (it's posted on his website) prominently cites the now-discredited research of Professor Bellisiles, but don't look for any concessions or apologies from him on this or any other point. He is an arrogant old-school Baltimore machine pol.

[KevinB]

Joseph Curran: Democrat hack; Maryland attorney general for life; father-in-law of Baltimore mayor O'Malley; IQ in the double digits.

[blau993]

IQ in the double digits

He must have cheated on the test.