Protesters greeted Maryland's new governor during his inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, demanding that Governor Ehrlich maintain the death penalty moratorium because its application is racist. A recent University of Maryland study, commissioned by former Governor Glendening after pressure from activists, found Maryland's death penalty to be deeply racially biased.

The spirited group of over 75 people braved the freezing cold to stand on the street corner directly opposite the ceremony and chant "Hey Ehrlich, just face it, death row is racist," and "Ehrlich says death row, we say hell no," the noise of which filtered deep into the seating area. Various police forces gave conflicting instructions as to where the protesters were allowed to stand, with some claiming the protesters were "in the way," but eventually protesters complied with an order to move about 15 feet down the sidewalk.

Currently, there are 12 men on Maryland's death row, 75% of whom are black while all the victims are white. This is despite the fact that just a small percentage of all Maryland homicides involve black perpetrators and white victims-most murders are black-on-black or white-on-white. Activists estimate that between four and seven men could be executed in 2003 if Ehrlich lifts the moratorium and the courts do not intervene. Researchers at the University of Maryland concluded that Maryland's death penalty is biased both by the race of the victim and by the geographic location of the crime. If a murder is committed in Baltimore County, the perpetrator is 13 times more likely to get the death penalty than if the murder is committed in Baltimore City.

The mostly youthful crowd of protesters included students from two local high schools and a number of area colleges, as well as families of death row inmates and a man who spent four years on California's death row before being exonerated. In addition, group of activists from the All People's Congress held colorful banners decrying Ehrlich's planned cuts to social services, education, and jobs.


Stephanie Gibson from the Maryland Coalition Against State Executions reminded the crowd that not to give up. "There's always hope because we saw a great act of courage from [Illinois] Governor George Ryan... we're going to make this governor hear us."

Fliers distributed by the Maryland Campaign To End The Death Penalty argued for an immediate end to all executions. They argued:

(1) The death penalty is fundamentally immoral. Cold blooded killing is wrong, whether done by a thug in the alley, by a hired hit man in an open field, or by government employees in a sanitized state building.
(2) The death penalty targets the poor. Poor people generally get poor legal representation. It is possible for a person to be sentenced to death without the jury ever heraring evidence or arguments that refute the prosecution's case.
(3) The death penalty is racist. 75% of the men on Maryland's death row are black, while the victims are white in 100% of the death row cases.
(4) Innocent people are executed under the death penalty. We know of many prisoners who have come within hours of execution, only to be released when new evidence proved their innocence.
(5) The death penalty does not deter crime. The murder rate is actually higher in states with the death penalty.

A town hall meeting will be held on January 25 at Mount Hope Baptist Church (1716 Gwynns Falls Pkwy) with State Delegate Salima Marriot to discuss strategies for the upcoming legislative session.

"We obviously got under their skin...I think that's really important because we've got to make Ehrlich understand from the outset that we're not going to let him execute more people in one year than have been executed in the entire history of Maryland in his first year in office," said Campaign To End The Death Penalty organizer Mike Stark in a speech after the protest. "You don't go from having the highest officer in the state, Governor Glendening, say the death penalty is racist and geographically arbitrary to executing more people in one year than ever before."