Report: Death penalty costly, biased

Death penalty opponents will be heading into the next General Assembly session armed with an official report describing capital punishment as biased, costly and frequently reversed.

Although the final recommendation of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment had been known for weeks, its report was released yesterday as repeal supporters hope it can grow their case in the State House.

"The death penalty in Maryland is not uniform … It is a happenstance of color and jurisdiction," said Benjamin Civiletti, a former U.S. attorney general and the commission chairman. "Systemically, the system does not...