Model Moratorium Resolution (Maryland)

WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner:

• In 1987, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to act on data demonstrating the continuing reality of racial bias.
• In 1990, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported "a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty."
• Nationwide, 82% of those put to death had been convicted of murdering a white person even though people of color are the victims in more than half of all homicides.
• The U.S. Congress has failed repeatedly to pass the Racial Justice Act which would allow prisoners to challenge their death sentences using standards normal in civil racial discrimination cases.

WHEREAS death sentences are reserved for the poor:

• About 90% of those persons facing capital charges cannot afford their own attorney.
• No state, including Maryland, has met standards developed by the American Bar Association (ABA) for appointment, performance and compensation of counsel for indigent prisoners.

WHEREAS prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk of imprisonment and execution of innocent people:

• In a series of rulings since 1991, the Supreme Court has drastically restricted the rights of death row prisoners to appeal their convictions and death sentences in federal courts, even in cases where prisoners present compelling evidence of innocence.
• In 1996, new legislation drastically limited federal court review of death penalty appeals and gutted public funding of legal aid services for death row prisoners.

WHEREAS the American Bar Association has concluded that administration of the death penalty is "a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal consistency" and has called for a moratorium on executions.

WHEREAS Maryland has on its death row the largest percentage of African Americans (currently 69%) of any state in the U.S.

WHEREAS Governor Parris Glendening's 1996 Task Force on the Fair Imposition of Capital Punishment:

• Found "the high percentage of African American prisoners under the sentence of death and the low percentage of prisoners under sentence of death whose victims were African American remains a cause for concern."
• Recommended "a future study be directed by the Court of Appeals with collaboration of the Governor, Legislature, State Bar and the public with specific focus on obtaining quantitative, and anecdotal data about potential racial disparity in the imposition of capital punishment in Maryland."

WHEREAS a comprehensive study of racism in death penalty sentencing in Maryland in accordance with the 1996 Task Force's recommendations is now underway at the University of Maryland, College Park.

WHEREAS Governor Glendening has refused to effect a moratorium on executions while the study is being conducted, despite the fact that at least 4 men are facing execution this year.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that this [church/faith community/organization] in [Town], MD calls on Governor Glendening and our representatives in the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates, and the President of the United State and our representatives in the U.S. Congress, to enact and adopt legislation imposing a moratorium on executions at least until policies and procedures are implemented which:

• Ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with basic due process, particularly with regard to racial bias.
• Eliminate the risk that innocent persons may be executed.
• On a federal level, prevent the execution of mentally retarded persons and persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of their offenses.

Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution shall be forwarded to Governor Glendening, the Chief Justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals, our state Senators and Delegates, the chair of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and to the President of the United States and members of our Congressional delegation.
 

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