The Maryland House of Delegates followed the lead of the state Senate and passed the death penalty repeal bill. The bill now goes to Governor Martin O’Malley who almost certainly will sign it, making Maryland the 18th state to abandon capital punishment, and the 6th state in 6 years to join the abolition club.
Amnesty International has led a global movement to abolish capital punishment since 1977 and has been organizing grassroots abolition efforts in Maryland for decades, serving as an integral member of the Maryland Citizens Against State Executions coalition.
According to Amnesty International's most recent annual worldwide death penalty survey in 2012, the United States stands almost alone among industrialized countries retaining the death penalty.