Death penalty opponents score victory
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening became the second U.S.
governor to place a moratorium on the death penalty May 9 when
he ordered a halt to the scheduled execution of African
American inmate Wesley Eugene Baker. Illinois Gov. George Ryan
put a moratorium on executions in that state two years ago.
Glendening cited "reasonable doubts" about the fairness of
the death penalty and placed a moratorium on executions until a
University of Maryland study is finished.
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has
reported that although 28 percent of Maryland's population is
Black, African Americans represent 70 percent of the death row
population and 80 percent of murder victims. Yet in cases where
prosecutors seek the death penalty, more than 90 percent of the
victims have been white.
Making his announcement, Glendening noted that nine of the
13 men on Maryland's death row are Black.
Andre Powell, a spokesperson for the All Peoples Congress,
stated: "The governor's decision to enact the moratorium comes
as a result of the many protests that were held over the past
years demanding an end to the death penalty. This is a partial
victory. We need a permanent end to this racist tool of
terror.
"The justice system has proven itself anything but fair,"
Powell charged. "Marshall Eddie Conway, a former member of the
Black Panther Party, remains imprisoned for a crime he did not
commit. Other innocent men and women remain behind bars for the
crime of being too poor to hire adequate defense.
"We salute all those who have held weekly vigils at the
prison and who have marched in Annapolis," he concluded.
Reprinted from the May 23, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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