After 4 long days of deliberation, the Maryland Senate has come to a conclusion that the death penalty will be removed from their state legislation. The vote was 27 to 20 in favor or repealing the death penalty, allowing Gov. Martin O' Malley (D) the legislative victory he has been pursing for a while. Those who were in favor of having the legislation changed agreed that by sentencing people to death isn't an effective deterrent for crimes; and this capital punishment has the ability to take the life of an innocent person in the event they were wrongfully convicted.

Senator Victor R. Ramirez points out the very real fact that our legal system is broken, and many people are suffering at the hands of the death penalty. Ramirez claims that the majority of the cases within their state involved racially unequal cases such as sentencing a black assailant to death for their actions against a victim who was white. While this is a tragic truth, the opponents against ending the death penalty claim that they believe the sentencing should be reserved the most heinous of crimes. When arguing their case on the Senate floor, it is reported that the opposition walked through a number of these dreadful cases in order to get their point across about the reality of the situation.

Republican Senator Christopher B. Shank states that there still needs to be some form of capital punishment available for those who commit the worst crimes against humanity. Despite the efforts to prove the necessity of the death penalty, the Senate outvoted the opposition, and has agreed to approve that the legislation be repealed. Now that the Senate has given their stamp of approval, the bill will move forward to the House of Delegates where many are confident that the bill will be given the votes needed to continue the repeal process. Reports claim that the biggest concern for passing this repeal bill was the Senate and now that the majority was on board, there is a strong feeling that the House will be in favor too.

As with many laws; however, even if the government agrees on the removal of the death penalty, there is a good chance that the people may petition to have the repeal changed. Written within the Constitution is the right of the opposition to use the public to petition a law that was approved by the House; and the opposition has promised to move forward this if the house shows their favor of the repeal.

The Washington Post conducted a poll recently in order to determine where the public stands with this very important matter, and they discovered that a majority of the people actually want to keep some form of the legislation for capital punishment in place. This specific bill created by O' Malley seeks to entirely remove the death penalty and in place add lifetime prison sentencing's. However, whether or not this law is passed, the 5 prisoners that are currently on death row in the state would likely not be affected as their sentencing was determined prior to the legislation.

If this bill is passed, they will become number 18 on the list of states that have removed the death penalty, also marking the sixth state to make this change in just the last 6 years. This law plays a large role for those individuals who have been arrested and convicted of violent crimes. As stated, there are only 17 states at this time that have no death penalty as a punishment for crimes, for this reason hiring a criminal defense attorney essential when accused of a crime. Find a criminal defense attorney in your area today!