Breaking: Maryland abolishes the death penalty!

 I got this from Amnesty International:

 http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=519485&msource=W1303EADP1

Dear Tracy,

The vote is in. We did it!

As a resident of Maryland myself, I'm proud to say it -- there will be no more death sentences in Maryland, ever again.

Death penalty repeal passed the Maryland House today, its final real hurdle. The bill moves on to Governor Martin O'Malley to be signed into law. The Governor's leadership in ending Maryland's deeply flawed death penalty -- together with tireless work by activists like you and our allies in the abolition movement -- made today's sweet victory possible.

Please take a moment to thank Governor O'Malley for his work to make Maryland the 18th state to repeal the death penalty.

Today's news is bigger than Maryland. It's a sign that the United States' embrace of the death penalty has passed its peak. Death sentences are down, public skepticism is up.

We couldn't do this alone. Moving the needle for justice takes time, planning, passion, and a strong coalition of allies. Amnesty activists have worked for death penalty repeal in Maryland for a generation -- since the 1980s -- and it has never been easy. In the words of Amnesty's current State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinators in Maryland, Andrea Hall and Kevin Scruggs:

"Through it all we armed ourselves with the facts, we debated, disagreed -- and sometimes, we changed minds… [We] spent decades being told "not this year" but never accepting defeat."

Even as we taste victory in Maryland, our work continues. Maryland's death penalty bill was stripped of a key provision to provide funding support for victims' families -- and we are calling on Gov. O'Malley to make sure that funding is covered in his budget. There are also 5 remaining death sentences in Maryland that the governor must commute -- there can be no more executions in Maryland!

And from Maryland, our fight moves on to Colorado and Delaware, two states that will be seriously considering death penalty repeal bills in the coming weeks. Will Colorado and Delaware follow Maryland's lead in ending the expensive distraction and cruel human rights abuse that is the death penalty? We sure hope so -- and as in Maryland, we'll keep fighting as long as it takes to make justice heard.

Thank you for joining me in celebrating this Maryland victory for death penalty abolition in the United States. Here's to many more human rights victories to come!

Sincerely,

Brian Evans
Acting Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA