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    Repealing the Death Penalty

    For the past year, I’ve worked with Maryland Citizens Against State Executions (MD CASE) on its campaign to abolish Maryland’s death penalty. I long ago decided that we as a society should not be empowered to execute others. But, having spent a year learning more about the issue, I am now more convinced that it is time to move past capital punishment. It is enormously expensive, makes victims’ loved ones wait an agonizingly long time for justice, and carries the very real risk of executing an innocent person.

    Last spring, I spent time in Annapolis with a half-dozen men – all of whom were convicted and sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. All were eventually exonerated. But we must all wonder how many other innocent people have not been spared.

    Despite many strong arguments for repeal, the issue remains at a political stalemate in Maryland today. Governor O’Malley is a staunch opponent of capital punishment, and while there is strong support for repealing it in the legislature, the right votes are not currently in place. Nationally, many states are also wrestling with this important decision.

    On Feb. 3rd, Brown will be visited by the state’s leading expert on the death penalty, Jane Henderson, executive director of MD CASE. She is a lively, passionate advocate who will share with us what is happening in Maryland and across the country. Please join us at 10 a.m. in the Church House.

    Tom Waldron (church member)

    Tomwaldron1@comcast.net

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    Comment

    1. The moral, practical and financial arguments for the death penalty are all weak. It strikes me that the main reason the death penalty is still around is our collective fantasy that “a life for a life” can somehow restore what is lost when a life is taken. The Christian conviction (not necessarily restricted to the Christian faith) is that this kind of loss can be made right by God alone. That may also be our existential reality. “Getting even” is a seductive, but ultimately unsatisfactory way of responding to the real pain of loss.

      — Andrew Foster Connors · Jan 25, 12:28 PM · #