Life Without Parole

A recent poll by the Washington Post revealed more Marylanders prefer a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole over the death penalty for someone convicted of murder– by 49% to 40%. Maryland has had a de facto moratorium on executions since 2006, after the state's highest court ruled that procedures for lethal injections had not been properly adopted. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley sponsored legislation to abolish the death penalty, and a state commission in 2008 recommended that the legislature repeal capital punishment, but the eventual measure was amended to sharply restrict the death penalty instead.  The last execution in Maryland was carried out in 2005.

In general, Marylanders support the death penalty when not presented with an alternative sentence by a margin of 60% to 32%.  The poll revealed racial and gender divisions on the issue. Whites are far more likely than blacks to favor capital punishment (70% to 43%), and more men than women support the death penalty (66% to 54%).

Virginia has not had a death verdict from a jury since March 2008, the longest stretch of time without a death verdict since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s.  Nationally, there has also been a decline in death sentences:  according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 115 death sentences in 2007, 65% less than the 326 that were handed down in 1995. In Virginia, part of this decline might be attributed to a change in state law made effective in 1995 that eliminated the possibility of parole with a life sentence.  Scott Sunby, professor of law at Washington and Lee University, said he believes that this decline can also be attributed to the rising cost of winning death sentences, more effective defense lawyers, and a dwindling public desire for capital punishment. (There are currently 14 prisoners on Virginia's death row; in 1995 there were 55 inmates on the row.  Virginia is second to Texas in the number of executions carried out since 1976.)

Todd Snider, the father of Zachary Snider, who was killed at age 10 by Christopher Stevens in Indiana, accepted final resolution of the case against Stevens when a settlement was reached for a sentence of life without parole. “Our family has suffered enough and would like for this to be resolved once and for all," Mr. Snider said about the life sentence. "This will give our family finality. Chris Stevens will die in prison and will never have the opportunity to destroy people's lives again."  The 1993 murder led to the passage of Zachary’s Law, creating Indiana's sex offender registry.  Stevens was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was overturned in 2007 because Stevens' attorneys had not adequately presented evidence of the defendant's mental illness.  Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said he “believe[s] it was probable that another jury would have given Mr. Stevens the death penalty, but it would have caused the Sniders to go through a lengthy jury trial, and then if convicted, a new set of appeals could have gone on another 10 years. With the plea, this case is over. There are no more appeals and the Sniders should never have to deal with Stevens again."

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of Kevin Young to life in prison without parole on July 24. Henry stated, "This was a very difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly." He explained that, "after reviewing all of the evidence and hearing from both prosecutors and defense attorneys, I decided the Pardon and Parole Board made a proper recommendation to provide clemency and commute the death sentence." This is only the second time the Governor has granted clemency since taking office.