However, this combination constitutes only twenty-three percent 23% of all death-eligible cases in Maryland.1 0 This Commission finds that the administration of the death penalty clearly
JURISDICTIONAL DISPARITIES
2 See Appendix B for a compilation of the Commissioner biographies.
3 See Appendix C for a list of witnesses who testified in person before the 2008 Commission.
4 The Minority Report appears at the end of this document.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISPARITIES
4 A comparison of the costs associated with death sentences and the costs associated with sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole;
5 A comparison of the effects of prolonged court cases involving capital punishment and those involving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole;
6 The risk of innocent people being executed;
7 The impact of DNA evidence in assuring the fairness and accuracy of capital cases; and
8 Other aspects of capital punishment currently and historically administered in the State
The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment has reviewed testimony from experts and members of the public, relevant Maryland laws and court cases, as well as statistics and studies relevant to the topic of capital punishment in Maryland After a thorough review of this information, the Commission recommends that capital punishment be abolished in Maryland The following sections detail the findings that support the recommendations and address each major issue the Commission was charged with studying
Finding: Racial disparities exist in Maryland’s capital sentencing system While there is no evidence of purposeful discrimination, the statistics examined from death penalty cases from
1978 to 1999 demonstrate racial disparities when the factors of the race of the defendant and the race of the victim are combined
(Results of Commission Vote on Finding: AGREE = 20; DISAGREE = 1)
Between 1979 and 1999, there were 1,311 death-eligible cases in Maryland, resulting in five executions and five persons remaining on Death Row today–in other words, an execution rate of less than one-half of one percent (