Anti-Death Penalty Advocate To Visit Md. Lawmakers
ANNNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Sister Helen Prejean, an advocate for ending capital punishment, wants Maryland lawmakers to consider outlawing the death penalty.
Prejean, who wrote the book "Dead Man Walking: An Eye Witness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States" is scheduled to meet with lawmakers Friday to encourage them to repeal the law.
Legislation in the General Assembly would repeal Maryland's capital punishment law and direct funds to improving services for the families of murder victims. A state Senate panel is scheduled to consider the bill next week.
Maryland's death penalty has been on hold since a 2006 Court of Appeals ruling found the state's lethal injection protocols weren't properly approved by a legislative committee. Executions can't resume until new protocols are developed and a legislative committee approves them.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
