Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley

MARYLAND (USA): O'MALLEY SIGNS DEATH PENALTY REPEAL

May 2, 2013: Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the abolition of the death penalty at a crowded ceremony in Annapolis. Attending was one-time Maryland death row inmate Kirk Bloodsworth. He is the first person in the U.S. freed because of DNA evidence after being convicted in a death penalty case. Maryland is the 18th state to abolish the death penalty, and the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to do so. The bill will not apply to the five men the state has on death row, but the governor can commute their sentences to life without parole. O'Malley has said he will consider them on a case-by-case basis. The state's last execution was in 2005. Supporters of the death penalty could still try to petition the bill to the ballot. The abolition bill was passed by the state legislature in March 2013. Over the past six years, six states have completely abandoned the death penalty.
In April 2012, Connecticut abolished the death penalty. Illinois abolished it in March 2011, and, in Oregon, the Governor declared a moratorium on all executions in November. In 2007, New York declared the death penalty unconstitutional and New Jersey abolished it completely. New Mexico followed suit in 2009.