Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to do away with the death penalty in his state — a practice he said is costly and ineffective.
"The death penalty is expensive and it does not work," the Democrat said, "And for that reason alone, I believe we should stop doing it."
With the death penalty in use in the United States, O'Malley said it puts the country in the company of Iran, China, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen,
CBS News reports.
The governor noted that Baltimore has become the "most violent and addicted city in America. Having the death penalty on the books did nothing to keep the homicides from rising."
O'Malley also cited a 2008 study conducted in Maryland found racial bias in corporal punishment, and that for every 8.7 Americans who are executed, one is exonerated.
The last person put to death in Maryland was murderer Wesley Eugene Baker in 2005, who was executed by lethal injection.
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