One More State

     Maryland is about to become the 18th state to outlaw the death penalty. The Legislature has approved it, and the governor says he will sign it.

     The anti-death penalty group that operates the "Death Penalty Information Center" website dismisses one of the major arguments in favor of capital punishment. It calculates:

For 2011, the average Murder Rate of Death Penalty States was 4.7, while the average Murder Rate of States without the Death Penalty was 3.1

     Alabama is ranked 6th in the U.S. for the use of capital punishment...53 executions since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court.
     Eight years have now passed since The Birmingham News shocked some of it readers by changing a century of editorial position and calling for an end to the death penalty.
     Since then the entire state government has become dominated by the GOP, and it is less likely than ever that Alabama will join Maryland and other states banning execution.