Maryland Republicans called on Gov. Martin O?Malley on Wednesday to lift a “de facto” ban on the death penalty after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of lethal injection in Kentucky executions.
GOP leaders said the ruling should prompt new regulations here for executions, which the state?s highest court halted in December 2006 after determining Maryland?s lethal injection procedures were not properly adopted.
“With today?s Supreme Court ruling, the governor has lost an excuse to withhold issuing new regulations,” said Del. Anthony O?Donnell, the House minority leader. “He should follow the lead of his colleague in Virginia and end his de facto ban on this constitutionally passed law.”
Within hours of the high court?s rejection of a Kentucky suit alleging the state?s three-drug cocktail constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced his state would lift a moratorium on executions.
O?Malley said he is reviewing the Supreme Court?s decision. He noted the General Assembly recently passed legislation creating a 19-member panel to study the effectiveness of the death penalty as a crime deterrent and what he called the significant costs associated with it.
“We will follow the law in both cases,” O?Malley, who has said he opposes the death penalty, said in a statement.
Maryland?s Court of Appeals did not rule on the humanity of lethal injection in December, but halted executions until lawmakers correct a technical glitch that violates the state?s Administrative Procedures Act.
The court said procedures for administering lethal injection could be adopted properly ? requiring action by the state?s governor-appointed secretary of public safety and a legislative panel ? or the legislature could vote to exempt execution protocols from the act.
The General Assembly rejected legislation this past session on both sides of the issue, instead opting for the study.
Wednesday?s Supreme Court decision should not dictate the findings of that commission nor affect the postponement of the execution of convicted murderer Vernon L. Evans rendered by the Court of Appeals, said his attorney, A. Stephen Hut Jr.
Evans, one of five on death row in Maryland, had argued the state?s lethal injection practices can cause undetectable pain, pointing to botched executions in other states.
“Until there is a revamped policy, if ever,” Hut said, “there is nothing to decide.”
