The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Today, the Maryland Senate voted to begin debate on a bill that will repeal the death penalty in the state.

Governor Martin O'Malley, a strong opponent of the death penalty, wrote the bill and had pushed for a vote in the Senate.

In November 2008, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment recommended that the state abolish the death penalty because it is costly and because of the "real possibility" that the state might execute innocent people. The commission found that the average case where the death penalty is sought costs $1.9 million more than a life imprisonment sentence. The commission's report also cited a racial, economic and geographical bias in the administration of the death penalty.

Last month, the Montana Senate passed a bill to abolish the death penalty and the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a bill that would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole.  Five other states currently have pending legislation to abolish the death penalty.