• Press Release

Amnesty International USA Welcomes Governor O’Malley’s Commutation of Death Penalty Sentences

December 31, 2014

Media Contact: Amanda Simon, (212) 633-4162, [email protected]

(WASHINGTON, DC) In response to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s decision to commute the sentences of the state’s remaining death penalty prisoners to life without parole Amnesty International USA executive director, Steven W. Hawkins, issued the following statement:

“Governor O’Malley’s decision to commute these sentences should be applauded. Today’s announcement gives further hope that support for the discriminatory and fatally flawed death penalty is waning. It is time for the United States to abandon this cruel, inhuman and degrading practice. The UScannot be seen as a country that truly values human rights as long as it continues to execute its citizens.”

Follow Steven W. Hawkins on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevenWHawkins

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 7 million people in over 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.