The Baltimore Sun ran a lengthy piece on the recent efforts in Maryland's State Legislature to repeal the death penalty.

            On September 5^th, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment convened its final public hearing.  The Commission, created by Governor O'Malley, is charged with determining whether the state's moratorium on the death penalty should be lifted or made permanent.

            Kirk Bloodsworth, a former death row inmate and a member of the Commission, was among those who testified.  Bloodsworth was sentenced to death and served 9 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.  Kirk told the twenty-three member Commission he is "living proof that Maryland gets it wrong."  He was joined at the hearing by 6 other exonorees.

            Also testifying was Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project in New York.  Scheck's testimony challenged the notion that advances in forensics have eliminated the possibility of a wrongful conviction.  Instead, he charged, we are discovering "more innocent people are being convicted than anyone ever thought".         

            The Commission has until December to submit its final recommendation to the Governor.