The Conference supports legislation to repeal capital punishment in Maryland.

During the 2007 session, Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Madden testified that, “Non-lethal means sufficient to ensure the people’s safety are available in Maryland capital cases in the life-without-parole sentence.” A February 2007 poll commissioned by the Conference from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research found that 61 percent of Maryland voters believe that life without parole is an acceptable substitute for the death penalty. Maryland CASE — Citizens Against State Executions, a coalition of which the Conference is a principal member - vowed to redouble efforts for a ban in 2008.

Marylander Kirk Bloodsworth spent nine years in prison -- including two years on death row -- for a rape and murder that he did not commit. Mr. Bloodsworth, who converted to Catholicism while in prison, in 1993 became the first inmate exonerated by DNA evidence. Today, Mr. Bloodsworth is one of the state's leading advocates for repeal of the death penalty.

To learn more about his story, Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Inmate Exonerated by DNA by Tim Junkin, is available for purchase for $10 from Maryland Citizens Against State Executions.

Signed copies of the book are also available. To purchase, please contact Maryland CASE:
Maryland Citizens Against State Executions
3800A 34th Street, Mt. Rainier, MD 20712
(301) 779-5230, info@mdcase.org