commission hearing

A break from the power plant story for an update on the death penalty commission hearings. Today that toad Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger gave his own testimony. He spoke at great length about why Maryland’s death penalty is different from all those other state’s death penalties (we’re carefuller), why Maryland’s death penalty is not racist or jurisdictionally discriminatory (his jusridiction, accounting for 75% of death row although only 8% of Maryland’s homicides, just happens to have more white victims), why cost is not a factor (admitting for the first time that it does cost more), why Kirk Bloodsworth’s case proves that the system works (even though he’s alive only because a few people made fortuitous mistakes), and why he needs the death penalty (because we have the most frightening defendant he’s ever sat across from). He spoke from a sheaf of papers and went on forever. He pretty much just wants the penalty for use as a bargaining chip, totally unethical – plead guilty or we’ll kill you. I sat two rows behind him and, having had already one run-in with the State Police because I’d forgotten my ID to get into the building (a delegate had to come vouch for me), wanted to knock his block off. He and his bad haircut were still answering questions when I left.

Before Shellenberger spoke the current Secretary of Public Safety gave information about prisoners in the system – how they decide where people are incarcerated and what kinds of crimes people inside the system have committed. His information did not support those fixated on the possibility of lifers who kill in prison. We know that lifers usually behave better than most other inmates and instances of lifer crime represent a miniscule proportion of prison crimes. The Secretary’s testimony supported that. And the one MD case of someone who did – Kevin Johns – was able to commit a homicide because the police who were transporting him seated him next to someone he’d threatened to kill. And then they were shocked.