Martin O’Malley, JD, former Governor of Maryland, stated the following in his Nov. 6, 2015 article “Why the Death Penalty Needs to Go,” available at cnn.com:

“There is a particular, fundamental flaw in our justice system that other candidates appear to lack the commitment to address — our failed reliance on the death penalty. This is a tragedy both because it is a racially biased punishment, and also ineffective in deterring crime…

Our nation’s legacy of slavery and racial injustice find continued offense in our use of the death penalty. Our death row population is more than 40% black — nearly three times the proportion of the general population.

Reforming our criminal justice system to save and redeem more lives is not as simple as changing just one thing. But we should be able to admit that we must do more of what works to save lives, and we should stop doing things that do not work.

As a prosecutor, I saw that the death penalty’s racial legacy could not be excused or explained away — and that too many innocent lives were being taken by this profoundly flawed practice.

So I decided to fight for the death penalty’s repeal.”