The Politics Hour
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2013-03-08/politics-hour
Snow and slush shut down most of the D.C. region for a day. Maryland lawmakers move closer to ending the death penalty in the Old Line State. And the District rolls out a plan to keep the FBI headquarters inside Washington. Join us for our weekly review of the politics, policies and personalities of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Guests
Tom Sherwood
Resident Analyst; NBC 4 reporter; and Columnist for the Current Newspapers
Anthony G. Brown
Lieutenant Governor, Maryland
Robert Spagnoletti
Chairman, D.C. Board of Ethics and Accountability; Former Attorney General, District of Columbia
Politics Hour Video
Maryland Lt. Gov Anthony Brown explained why now is the right time to abolish the death penalty. He said studies show capital punishment is unreliable, biased against African Americans and doesn't serve to reduce crime.
The Maryland Senate voted to repeal the state's death penalty Wednesday, and the legislation now moves to the House of Delegates for approval.
Comments
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About the death penalty...
It is beyond reason why taxpayers have to subsidize the lives of mass shooters for the rest of their lives, for the ones who don't kill themselves first. There is no question who did the shooting. So what on earth is the problem! If the system doesn't accommodate provisions for mass shooters, then the system must be changed. And that is definitely not a racial issue, since most of the mass shooters have been white.
On the racial bias issue...perhaps there is racial bias. But Anthony Brown leaves other factors out altogehter. For example, there might be a good reason why blacks have a higher rate of incarceration: poverty, lack of education, poor family life. Where are the sociologists on this? If Anthony Brown is right, is he suggesting that whites don't get arrested or are let go? And for those who did commit the crimes after all - white or black - do taxpayers have to subsidize them for the rest of their lives! We've got to do better than this!