Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced on Monday that he will commute all remaining death sentences to life without parole. The move comes after the General Assembly repealed the state’s death penalty in 2013.
The Democratic O’Malley said in a statement that “In a representative government, state executions make every citizen a party to a legalized killing as punishment” and that “leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland — present or future.”
This is O’Malley’s last month in office. Republican Larry Hogan, the governor-elect, has said that he would have opposed the repeal of the death penalty but that he would not push for its return.
There is a lot of speculation that O’Malley is planning to run for president.