(Washington, D.C., January 7, 2003)
Maryland's moratorium on the death penalty should remain in place, Human Rights Watch said today. A new study released today by the University of Maryland found substantial racial and geographic disparities in the administration of the death penalty in Maryland.
"In Maryland, as elsewhere around the country, capital punishment is plagued by racial bias, arbitrariness and the risk of executing the innocent."
Wendy Patten
U.S. Advocacy Director
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"This study raises crucial questions about the fairness of the criminal justice system in Maryland," said Wendy Patten, U.S. advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. "In Maryland, as elsewhere around the country, capital punishment is plagued by racial bias, arbitrariness and the risk of executing the innocent."
The study, which was commissioned by Governor Parris Glendening in 2000, examines the impact of race and geographical location on the likelihood that a perpetrator of a death-eligible crime in Maryland would be sentenced to death. It found that "offenders who kill white victims, especially if the offender is black, are significantly and substantially more likely to be charged with a capital crime." The study also found that the use of the death penalty varied greatly from county to county. For example, prosecutors in Baltimore County are thirteen times more likely to seek the death penalty in an eligible case than are their counterparts in Baltimore City.
The moratorium was instituted last May by Governor Glendening, who cited concerns regarding racial bias and the "need to be absolutely sure of the integrity" of the death penalty process. Incoming Governor Robert Ehrlich has stated that he will lift the moratorium when he takes office on January 15.
Human Rights Watch urged Governor Glendening to support legislation that would extend the moratorium. Human Rights Watch also called on incoming Governor Ehrlich to continue the current ban on executions. There are currently twelve people on death row in Maryland, eight of whom are black. All of their victims were white.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances. The death penalty is a form of punishment unique in its cruelty and is inevitably carried out in an arbitrary manner, inflicted primarily on the most vulnerable - the poor, the mentally ill, and persons of color. The intrinsic fallibility of all criminal justice systems assures that even when full due process of law is respected, innocent persons may be executed.
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