Governor Martin O'Malley (D) announced last week he will commute the sentences of Maryland's last four death row inmates. Given his leadership in repealing the state's death penalty two years ago, his decision was not a surprise. But, just weeks before he completes eight years as governor and a year before Iowa's presidential caucuses, it dramatizes O'Malley's values and skills. Soon after he was elected governor and I elected to the state senate, we met to discuss the 2007 legislative session. He discussed his priorities and I pitched my ideas for higher education. As we walked out of his office,...