Legislative Briefing - Essay Example

Law Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 25th March, Introduction Laws are enacted by different individuals for different purposes including restoring order and changing societal norms. As a result, there are several legislative units that have the power to make laws. In the state of Maryland, one such law was recently enacted by lawmakers as a means of protecting citizens. The decision by the Maryland senate and legislative assembly on the issue of repealing the death penalty in terms of capital punishment was repealed in the vote undertaken by the both houses of the law. This legislation has drawn a lot of reactions and responses from different quarters. This essay is going to examine all facts and issues surrounding the bill in the process of it being passed and implemented. Analysis The state of Maryland in terms of politics is predominantly controlled by Democrats in both house of senate and representatives. Recently, the state passed the repeal of the death penalty through a bill that was brought that was sponsored by Martin O’Malley, the state Governor of Maryland. The bill known as the Death Penalty Repeal bill number SB 276 was meant to repeal and ban the death penalty as part of capital punishment in the State of Maryland. This bill was represented to the house of senate in the state of Maryland by Martin O’Malley who sponsored the bill with the intention of repealing the death penalty (Schabas 65). The bill was presented to the Maryland House Judiciary Committee and the bill was to be argued and determined and voted. During the voting, the bill was adopted and passed by the house of senate on the March 06, 2003 on a vote of 27 against 20. The bill was also debated, heard and voted in the Maryland House of Delegates whereby the bill was adopted by a vote of 82 against 56 on the March 15th, 2013. The bill was meant to correct certain issues that affected the capital punishment implementation in the state of Maryland (Gershman 87). Some of the issues raised in the process of debating the bill were that there were need for the elimination of racial and jurisdictional bias, reduction of costs, lessens misery of the family of victims and also elimination of risks or innocent people. These were the issues that were raised by the backers of the bill and thus, they saw the need to approach the legislative assemblies of both houses of the state of Maryland in the process of abolishing the death penalty. This bill greatly affects the black community living in Maryland since most crime suspects and sentenced individuals are black individuals. As a result, the implementation of capital punishment in the state of Maryland affected a lot of black people who have faced the death penalty or at a risk of facing the death penalty. Most of the urban black people face the problem of racial disparity in terms of convictions and sentencing. This is because the US criminal justice system has witnessed a lot of convictions among the black community in all regions of the country. Research has shown that out of all convictions, 52 % of them are black people and there is a 28% likelihood of a black person to be incarcerated. In terms of the death penalty, 485% of convictions affect people belonging to the black community. The adoption of this bill will lead to a lot of black people being incarcerated for life and approval among civil rights people (Schabas 94). Many rights groups which represent black people in the society are in support of the legislation that might bring fairness to the society. As a result, the once the bill is adopted into law, the criminal justice system will look at ways and means of punishing people in terms of capital punishment. Research conducted has shown that the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment conducted a study and came to the conclusion that the abolishing the death penalty will do a lot of good to the state. For instance, the law would lead to a lot cost savings and lessen misery while at the same time seek to correct injustices due to racial discrimination. Several people have supported and opposed the bill in equal measures; some of the groups that supported the bill include human rights activists, NAACP which is a black civil rights movement group and conservative politicians in the Democratic Party. Consequently, many politicians in the Republican Party were opposed to the repeal of the death penalty. The move by these groups to support the bill was seen as a move meant to protect the rights of black people within the community (Schabas 81). Some of these groups have argued that black people are discriminated in the dissemination of justice and that the committee overseeing the administration of justice has no jurisdiction to call for death penalty. While some of the politicians such as O’Malley who supported the bill called the death penalty as costly and ineffective and therefore saw the need for repealing of the statute. Other groups who were in support of the repeal of the death penalty included the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP). One of the considerations that was taken in coming to the voting decision was a 2003 report by the University of Maryland which showed that white victims of killings were two or three times likely of facing the death penalty (Gershman 98). These and other issues of equity were among the reason that made the houses of senate and delegates to repeal the death penalty. While on the other hand opposition came from politicians and people who sympathized with the victims of murder. They argue that repealing the death penalty will not give closure to victims’ families and that keeping convicts of murder in prison is a mockery since victims will never access justice. In quoting one of the opponents of the bill, Robert A. Zerkin a Democrat politician said that these murder convicts are very horrible people and they only deserve to die. The advantage of this bill is that it will lead to decreased costs in terms of administration of justice and punishment to convicts. According to experts, it costs a lot more to administer the death penalty since a committee is set up to determine the case and a lot of legal people are involved in the process. Moreover, the arguments for the repeal of the death penalty are of the agreement that the death penalty does not reduce murders and heinous killings conducted by different persons. As a result, it would be better to abolish the death penalty and come up with a better system of managing societal issues contributing to the killings. Consequently, repealing the death penalty would give an opportunity for minorities such as black people and Hispanics to access opportunities to justice just like their white counterparts (Schabas 102). In the process of admitting death penalty, it is normally lost that the voice and concerns of the victims’ families is lost and a lot of focus in placed on the murder convict. As a result, this adoption of this bill will, it is normally lost that the voice and concerns of the victims’ families is lost and a lot of focus in placed on the murder convict. As a result, this adoption of this bill will lead to the justice to focus on victims and channel excess funds used in administering the death penalty unto the victims’ families. The Death Penalty Repeal bill went through a lot of stage in the process of being passed since it was introduced in January 2013. The bill went through the first reading where the bill passed and forwarded to the Maryland House Judiciary Committee where the committee discussed it. The judiciary committee came up with many amendments to the original bill before it was presented for voting. After the committee stage, the bill is taken to a conference committee where three members of each house sit in. The bill will then be voted upon by the senate house and it must pass for it to be vetoed by the House of Delegates. The Death Repeal Bill passed all these stages and vetoed by both legislative houses in Maryland and signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley (Gershman 77). This bill was the right way in solving the issue of capital punishment since the death penalty does assist in the advancement of the course of justice. This has been advocated by well known individuals such as Dr. Benjamin Rush who compared the death penalty to human sacrifice in religion. Conclusion The process of law making is tedious with a lot of interests as seen in the adoption of the Death Repeal bill in the state of Maryland. The abolition of the death penalty by lawmakers in the state of Maryland received support from civil rights movements and activists in the interests of the black community. The black community has suffered under the US justice system and this bill was meant to abolish a process that was ineffective and costly. A lot of lobbying and support from different quarters such as NAACP and Democrat politicians lead to the final adoption of the bill by both legislative houses in Maryland. Works Cited Gershman, Gary. Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents. Boston, MA: Pelshiver, 2005. Print. Schabas, William. The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law. Chicago, IL: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print. Read More