From Del. Patrick McDonough:
Delegate Pat McDonough will introduce 5 bills that mandate the use of capital punishment in the case of mass murder, murder of a law enforcement officer or correctional officer, contract murder, or serial killer.
At a time when the Governor and liberal members of the General Assembly are attempting to abolish the death penalty, Delegate Pat McDonough believes they are moving in the wrong direction. “The recent mass murder of children in Newtown makes it clear that a capital punishment remedy is necessary. I find it hard to believe that the Governor, or any member of the General Assembly, would support the idea of an assassin of innocent children to be granted life without parole. It would be unthinkable that the taxpayers and victims’ families be subjected to paying for the existence of this type of murderer for decades after the slaughter of these innocents. Moreover, according to Maryland law, a mass murderer could be found to be insane and eventually released into the community. Also, that same mass murderer, according to Maryland law, is a convicted felon and would be eligible to vote,” McDonough concluded.
There are approximately 3,400 convicted murderers in the Maryland prison system. Many are not serving life without parole and will be back on the streets through early release programs. These same murderers would have been eligible for a college degree obtained in the system which would promote another form of early release for them. However, Delegate McDonough successfully passed an amendment on the floor of the House of Delegates during the last session prohibiting convicted murderers from participating in the prison college early release program.
Over the years, the Maryland General Assembly has become ‘criminal friendly’ by promoting early release programs and other policies that benefit offenders. Recently, the Governor and legislators made it easier for convicted murderers to receive automatic parole without the confirmation of the Governor. Public safety and crime victims’ rights have been relegated to second class citizenship. It is hypocritical for the elected representatives of the people to engage in vigorous advocacy for gun control and abolishing the death penalty while, at the same time, not providing serious help regarding protection of the public. Gun laws and killing the death penalty only benefit the criminals. If the Governor and the General Assembly are honest, they will guarantee that this year’s debate will broaden into a serious discussion about crime, gun violence, revolving door justice in our prison system, and real solutions. “I intend to fight hard to generate an honest and serious debate on these issues,” promised Delegate McDonough.
Twenty-five years ago I might have agreed. Today, I do not. I don’t believe it is a deterrent to violent crime, nor is it applied appropriately. Life w/o parole and hard labor while in spartan prisons would be a greater deterrent. Stop the plea bargain revolving door and harsh penalties for violent criminals – it should be viewed as a harsh penalty, not a warm bed and easy life with the certainty of getting out. No cell phones, computers, tv, education or exercise equipment – hard labor. We treat convicts better than college students!
Sorry – typing too fast! It was supposed to be “Stop the plea bargain revolving door. It should be viewed as etc., etc.”
Jails cost money, the dead cost nothing!
This is false. With the way the appeals process is set up, and those sentenced to death always appeal their sentences, it is actually more expensive for the state to execute someone than it is to sentence them to life in prison.
i think death penalty should be reinstated n insane plea should not be used or they could put that class in gp in prison n prison will end there life for em. .they have separate housing for them. it cost 85k house one inmate n ones on death row would illuminate an 85k. Back in 05 you have 5 yrs appeal ur case. cuz of no capital punishment ANY one serving life sentence or 40yrs or more can appeal it n give back life sentences or years that’s how they walk out early by special appeal court im with death penalty wish erlich or this delegate push omally ass out of house he’s useless n can do no good.
These bills seem more like making political statements, than problem solving, and I’m not sure that’s what we want our lawmakers do.
Right, Adam Lanza wouldn’t have carried out the crimes, had he knew he would be executed.
Criminals make life miserable for all law abiding citizens. The death sentence in MD is not a deterrent because it is not used. A life sentence doesn’t really mean life. I say lock the criminals up in spartan conditions, allow them minimum contact with the outside world and release them after they have done all their time.Repeat offenders should be taken out of society for ever or shipped to Mexico ( which ever is cheapest).
I just wonder if the death penalty doesn’t validate murder by suggesting that it’s OK to kill someone as long as you have a good reason. And if that’s true, then we’re not executing people for committing murder, we’re executing them for having poor judgment.
Many of these individuals give little or no thought to consequences before they commit these acts. It’s a fact that drug use and mental illness inhibits your ability to think long term or to think logically at all. What we need to do is prevent people from getting to that point. Also, we have a lot of space being wasted in our jails/prisons by people on charges like contracting without a license, driving on suspended, child support non-payment, etc. While these people need to be punished, the overcrowding caused by these individuals forces us to release the violent offenders. I believe the death penalty should be used mainly to protect prison staff from offenders that are likely to kill again once incarcerated. The financial argument unfortunately is very incorrect, in Maryland to sentence someone to death they go through a lengthy trial to convict and then a second trial in front of the same jury strictly focused on sentencing. Typically this is a two week process in total and involves psychological experts and is very costly. Then there is an automatic appeal right that basically involves repeating this process if the person is actually sentenced to death and there are further procedures that continue throughout the entire decade they sit on death row. One of the best laws they have passed in Maryland was the requirement of sex offenders going through a psychological exam to receive any release short of their sentence expiration. A similar bill should be used for murderers eligible to return to society if any are at all.
“The Recent Mass Murder of Children in Newtown Makes it Clear that a Capital Punishment Remedy is Necessary”
Says the politician to the mass shooter who killed himself before we could even get them in custody. Sounds like that deterrent is going to work real well.
Don’t you have a wife or dog to bounce these sentences off of before you publish your thoughts? Or are you trying to dissuade people from voting for you?
I’d like to thank the Dagger for highlighting this deficient logic.