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Supporter of Capital Punishment Calls for Life Without Parole as Ultimate PunishmentJoseph Tydings has a long history with the death penalty. He is a former United States Attorney for Maryland, United States Senator for Maryland, member of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, prosecutor of capital cases and counsel to a capital defendant who was executed in Virginia. In his recent commentary in The Baltimore Sun, "No Fatal Mistakes," focusing on the hearings of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment, Sen. Tydings notes his "deep concerns about the failures in our criminal justice system in capital cases." Sen. Tydings is profoundly concerned about the risk of executing an innocent person. And he believes he speaks from personal experience. He used to represent Walter Correll, who was executed in 1996 for a crime that Sen. Tydings still believes he didn't commit. (Correll was also mentally retarded and, six years too late for him, in 2002 the United States Supreme Court declared the death penalty a disproportionate penalty for those living with mental retardation.) Sen. Tydings is also concerned about the failure of death penalty states such as Maryland to provide defendants with competent counsel and a fair trial as mandated by the United States Constitution. And, again, he has good reason to be concerned: each year for the last 36 years an average of three demonstrably innocent persons has been condemned to death in the United States. Sen. Tydings concludes his remarkable commentary: "The penalty for conviction in capital cases should be changed to life imprisonment without the possibilityof parole until we are willing or able to provide the resources to stop these frightfully tragic miscarriages of justice."
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Sep 3rd, 2008 at 3:39pm
Haven't the advances in forensic sciences lowered the number of innocent people on death row? And what does it mean ''demonstrably innocent''? I am an ACLU member but not entirely persuaded by the arguments against capital punishment.
Sep 10th, 2008 at 2:40pm
So I guess we'll pay for it to keep these people alive that basically serve no purpose other than to kill innocent civilians.
Oct 22nd, 2008 at 12:22pm
i be;ieve if you take i life your life should be taking
Oct 22nd, 2008 at 12:23pm
peter is right
Oct 22nd, 2008 at 12:24pm
hi my name is gonechiway