Maryland’s Commission on Capital Punishment continued with its fourth public hearing on September 5 in Annapolis. Experts testified about the additional costs of capital punishment compared to life-sentence cases, the risk of arbitrariness in death sentencing, the validity of recent deterrence studies, and the national trends away from the use of the death penalty in the U.S. There was also discussion about the number of current cases that do not have any DNA evidence to confirm or exclude guilt.

Several men who had been exonerated after spending years on death row spoke to the Commission about their experiences. Former Maryland death row inmate Kirk Bloodsworth, who is also a member of the Commission, testified about the 8 years he spent in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. After two separate juries found him guilty, post-conviction DNA tests exonerated him and the true perpetrator was identified and later confessed. “I’m living proof that Maryland gets it wrong,” Bloodsworth said.

Established earlier this year by Maryland’s General Assembly, the 23-member Commission is examining issues such as racial disparities in the application of the death penalty, the costs of litigating prolonged capital cases as compared to life imprisonment, and the risk of executing the innocent. Following the hearings, the Commission will submit a final report of its findings and recommendations by December 15, 2008.

(J. Bykowicz, “Sizing up wrongful execution risk,” Baltimore Sun, September 6, 2008). See also Studies and Innocence.