Maryland's death penalty is at a crossroads. The State has not executed anyone since 1998, when it executed Tyrone X Gilliam. Since then, anti-death penalty activists have won a number of important victories, including: the commutation of Eugene Colvin-El, the passing of moratorium resolutions in several cities and counties across the State, and the passage of a moratorium bill in the House of Delegates (later killed by a filibuster in the State's Senate).

Maryland is preparing to execute Wesley Baker on the week of May 12th. Wesley Baker's case exemplifies everything that is wrong with the death penalty. His case falls into a disturbing pattern in which impoverished Blacks accused of killing whites are sent to death more often than others accused of similar crimes. Wesley is a poor, Black man accused of killing a white woman in affluent, mostly white, suburban Baltimore County.

In fact, both the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Amnesty International have repeatedly singled Maryland out for having the most racist death penalty in the nation. Nine of 13 people currently on death row are Black. 12 out of 13 are accused of killing whites -- in a State where Blacks annually account for over 80% of murder victims. Statistics like these prompted Governor Glendening to commission a $225,000 study examining racial disparities on Maryland's death row. Wesley is scheduled to die four months before that study is complete.

Join us for a rally and march to Maryland's death row in Baltimore on Saturday, April 27th at 1 PM. Gather at Cain Field (E. Monument and Ensor).

Also for a more detailed summary of Wesley's case see: www.nodeathpenalty.org/factsheets/BakerFS.pdf

Sincerely,

Mike Stark
Campaign to End the Death Penalty