Death Penalty

The Catholic Church in Maryland has long sought an end to capital punishment in our state, and played a critical role in passing legislation to end the executions of juveniles (1987) and those with mental disabilities (1989). The Church applauds the state for its recent efforts to curb the application of the death penalty in our state, and urges that elected officials work to enact complete repeal. We believe the sentence of life without the possibility of parole, which is already available in Maryland, is a just and sufficient means of protecting citizens while also respecting human life.

In 2008, the blue ribbon Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment recommended that the state repeal the death penalty. The 23-member commission found in its months-long review that there is a “real possibility” of executing innocent people and that the application of the death penalty in our state is racially and geographically biased. While lawmakers did not end executions in our state, they did make progress in ensuring that innocent individuals are not sentenced to death. In 2009, the General Assembly approved, and the governor signed, a law that allows the death penalty to be pursued only in cases where there is DNA evidence, a videotape of the crime in progress, or a voluntary, video-taped confession. In the 2010 General Assembly session, lawmakers rebuffed attempts to expand death-penalty eligibility to other cases. Executions in Maryland are currently on hold as the state reviews its regulations for the death penalty.