MARYLAND
Guv commutes death sentence
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
Anti-death-penalty activists in Maryland won a major
victory when Gov. Parris N. Glendening was forced to commute
the sentence of death-row inmate Eugene Colvin-el on June
7.
There were no witnesses in the case, and activists had
asserted there was no credible physical evidence linking
Colvin-el to the murder with which he was charged. He has
continued to assert his innocence.
Glendening supports the death penalty but faces a growing
movement opposing it. That movement includes grassroots
community groups, sections of the Catholic Church and
prominent politicians. Under broad pressure, he reversed his
position and commuted Colvin-el's sentence to life
imprisonment.
At a June 3 community rally, Stephen Ceci, an organizer
for the All Peoples Congress, linked the case of Colvin-el
and the struggle in Maryland with the fight to stop the
execution of Shaka Sankofa and Mumia Abu-Jamal. He also
proclaimed: "The vast majority of prisoners are victims of
capitalism. They are imprisoned for the crime of being
poor."
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