The gentleman pictured above in Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. For several years now he has been campaigning against the death penalty, saying:"Evidence shows that the death penalty is not a deterrent, it cannot be administered without racial bias and it costs three times as much as life in prison without parole. What's more, there is no way to reverse a mistake if an innocent person is put to death."
Now it looks like he getting what he wanted. This week the Maryland House of Delegates voted 82 to 56 to abolish the death penalty in that state. Voting for the measure were 80 Democrats and 2 Republicans, while 18 Democrats and 38 Republicans voted to continue state-sanctioned killings. The bill now becomes law with the governor's signature, and Maryland becomes the 18th state to join the civilized world in doing away with the death penalty.
This new law actually won't change things much in Maryland, since they haven't executed anyone or given out any new death sentences since 2005. It's just official now.
