Death penalty repeal fails
originally published: 28th February 2009
The fate of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s bill to repeal the death penalty now rests on a rare parliamentary maneuver, as a Senate committee voted down his proposal to end capital punishment.
The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee deadlocked at 5-5 on the bill yesterday, the second time in O’Malley’s term the body has failed to bring the legislation to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.
Despite meeting personally with the governor on the issue, Sen. Bryan Simonaire, R-Pasadena, a possible swing vote on the committee, said he could not favor a bill protecting the lives of vicious criminals when Maryland also allows abortions.
“What it looks like is I’m being asked to look at one side of the coin,” Simonaire said yesterday after a half-hour meeting with O’Malley in the governor’s State House office. “It seems inconsistent with our other policy with the unborn.”
