Maryland Becomes 18th State To End Death Penalty!

A little more than one year after passing a bill to enact marriage equality, Maryland has now enacted a law ending the death penalty in the state, becoming the 18th in the country, and more importantly the 6th in 6 years, to do so. Last year, Connecticut ended the death penalty in that blue state (which also has marriage equality).

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the 18 states without the death penalty are:

Alaska (1957) Connecticut** (2012) Hawaii (1957) Illinois (2011) Iowa (1965) Maine (1887) Maryland*** (2013) Massachusetts (1984)

Michigan (1846) Minnesota (1911) New Jersey (2007) New Mexico* (2009) New York (2007)# North Dakota (1973) Rhode Island (1984)^ Vermont (1964)

West Virginia (1965) Wisconsin (1853) ALSO Dist. of Columbia (1981)

It's interesting that 8 of the 10 states that have enacted marriage equality are on this list, with only Washington and New Hampshire missing.

There was a bill to repeal Delaware's death penalty that died in committee recently. DPIC reports that there are seven states that do have the death penalty which have not executed a person within the last 10 years. The federal government, which does have the death penalty, has not executed anyone since March 18, 2003.