NCJ Number
111952
Date Published
1987
Length
70 pages
Annotation
When the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for capital punishment in 1976, the Maryland General Assembly began work on the enactment of a constitutional death penalty law.
Abstract
Following debates, the law was passed and became effective in July 1978. In the decade since, over 3,500 murder arrests have been effected, and State's attorneys have formally declared their intention to seek the death penalty in 190 cases. Separate penalty phase trials have been conducted in 90 cases, and 40 death sentences have been imposed. The Maryland Court of Appeals has heard arguments and rendered opinions in 39 matters related to the death penalty. In 1988, 17 men are under sentence of death. No executions have yet taken place, and there has been no ruling on the constitutionality of the State's death penalty law. An examination of death sentencing patrerns in the past 10 years indicates that two overriding factors determine who will and will not be sentenced to death. These are the particular policies of individual State's attorneys and the race of the victim. While the courts have not yet perceived a constitutional significance to the evidence of such patterns, suggesting that such issues are best addressed by legislative bodies, the likelihood that these patterns will continue tests the expressed resolve of the courts and society to insist on a modicum of even-handedness and fairness in the imposition of capital punishment. Biographical data on death row inmates are included; additional data on capital cases are appended. 32 footnotes.