[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MARYLAND

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 3



MARYLAND:

Is death penalty a deterrent or an atrocity?


The news that Gov. Martin O'Malley would sign a bill to repeal the death
penalty bill is no surprise ("Death penalty repeal sought," Jan 26).

As a Christian, I was long opposed to the death penalty. However, after
seeing all the heinous, unnecessary killings by thugs over the years, I
have changed my position on the subject.

If a person kills another human being during the commission of a crime,
that killer should be executed.

A sentence of life without parole is not a deterrent.

I am fed up with my tax dollars paying for these murderers to have three
square meals a day, plus shelter, TV, gyms, etc., while they are in
prison.

Mr. O'Malley didn't have an answer to the murder rate in Baltimore when he
was mayor, and as governor, he still doesn't.

LeRoy Ruhe ---- Columbia

***

I hope that this will be the year that Maryland steps out of the dark ages
and puts an end to the death penalty.

Executing a killer does not bring back the victim.

On many occasions, a person convicted of a capital crime has later been
proved innocent through DNA tests or when another person confessed to the
crime.

The death penalty has also been shown to be unfairly administered and
racially discriminatory.

It is more expensive than giving a convicted murderer a sentence of life
without parole.

It is morally wrong to kill people who kill people to prove that killing
people is wrong.

No one is born a killer.

Our money, time and focus would be better spent dealing with issues such
as drug use and treatment, mental illness and abuse, providing good-paying
jobs and job training, and ameliorating other environmental conditions
that spawn criminals.

Justice would be better served and the victims of crime better honored
through these actions rather than through the "eye for an eye" mentality.

The Rev. David L. Pollitt ---- Forest Hill

***

Now that Maryland has one of the most liberal governors in the nation,
coupled with an unchecked liberal General Assembly, we can rest assured
that the death penalty will be repealed by this session of the
legislature, and that this will be immediately signed into law by the
governor.

What great comfort that will be to those dedicated law enforcement and
correctional officers who must deal with the worst of the worst criminal
elements in the state - their most significant deterrent will be lost.

What will a life-termer in prison have to fear if only another term of
life without parole can be imposed?

While we are at it, why not give the right to vote to convicted felons in
prison - so that they can vote for even more legislators who appear to be
more concerned about the criminal element than about law-abiding citizens?

Chuck Marks ---- Perry Hall

***

I applaud the effort of state Sen. Lisa A. Gladden and Del. Samuel I.
Rosenberg to end the death penalty in Maryland.


Punishments, including life sentences without parole, enable the state to
protect the lives of the innocent without taking the lives of the guilty.

In accordance with our church's teaching, the state "should do so because
such means are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common
good, and with the dignity of the human person" (Evangelium Vitae, 56).

The state has an opportunity to set an example for society by promoting a
culture of life and not a culture of death.

While I pray daily for those who suffer from the horrific crimes committed
against them, I also pray that the leaders of our state will choose to
affirm the dignity of human life and not compound the violence that is
already so pervasive in our society.

Cardinal William H. Keeler ---- Baltimore

The writer is the archbishop of the Archdiocese Of Baltimore.

(source: Letters to the Editor, Baltimore Sun)