IN MARYLAND NON PASSA LA MORATORIA

 WASHINGTON, 10 APR - Il boia continuera' ad ucciderein Maryland. Una moratoria alle esecuzioni non e' stataapprovata ieri dal Senato del Maryland. Gli avversari delpatibolo hanno dovuto lasciar cadere la proposta dopo essersiresi conto che non avevano i voti necessari per superare il'filibustering' minacciato dagli oppositori della moratoria.Il Maryland sarebbe diventato, dopo l'Illinois, il secondostato Usa ad approvare una moratoria. L'iniziativa era statasostenuta anche a gran voce da uno dei giudici della CorteSuprema, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, che aveva sottolineato come ''gliaccusati che possono permettersi bravi avvocati non vengono maicondannati a morte''. ''Devo ancora vedere un caso di condanna a morte, tra ledozzine che approdano alla Corte Suprema alla vigilia delleesecuzioni, dove l'imputato era ben difeso al processo'', haaffermato la Ginsburg durante una conferenza alla Universita'del Distretto di Columbia. ''Le persone che sono ben difese nei processi non vengono maicondannate a morte - ha ribadito - sarei molto felice di vederela moratoria approvata in Maryland''. Ma poche ore dopo i fautori della moratoria erano costretti agettare la spugna. Avevano chiesto una sospensione delleesecuzioni fino al completamento di uno studio (che sara'completato nel settembre 2002) sulla equita' dei verdetti dicondanna a morte nel Maryland. Dei tredici condannati in attesa del boia in Maryland novesono di colore ed altri quattro bianchi. I fautori della moratoria sostengono che esiste unadisparita' razziale nel sistema della comminazione della pena dimorte nel Maryland. Una approvazione della moratoria avrebbe automaticamentesalvato la vita di quattro condannati in attesa di essere messia morte con una iniezione nell'arco dei prossimi mesi. Tre deiquattro condannati sono persone di colore. Gli avversari della moratoria consideravano l'iniziativa ''unprimo passo verso la abolizione della pena di morte nelMaryland'' e si sono battuti strenuamente per bloccare ilprogetto che non e' stato neanche messo ai voti. In cambio ifautori della moratoria sonoi riusciti ad ottenere unaconcessione minorr: l'obbligo di test DNA per i condannati peromicidio o stupro (se il giudice ritiene che possano mostrare lainnocenza dell'imputato).

Md. Bill to Suspend Executions Fails

Backers of a moratorium on executions in Maryland conceded yesterday that they lacked the votes to overcome a threatened filibuster in the state Senate, all but assuring that as many as four death row inmates will die by lethal injection by summer's end. The Legislative Black Caucus and other moratorium supporters agreed to let the bill die in exchange for the passage of two other measures. One guarantees DNA testing for those convicted of murder or rape if a judge believed the evidence might prove their innocence. The other creates a task force to examine whether the state should restore voting rights to convicted felons after they are released from prison. As the clock ticked toward midnight on the General Assembly's final day, the Senate was about to kill the moratorium measure. Meanwhile, lawmakers focused on other matters and managed to end their 90-day session in Annapolis with a burst of important legislation, including aid for elderly Marylanders struggling to cop!e with the escalating costs of prescription drugs and restrictions on the more than 500 lobbyists who seek to influence lawmakers. Lawmakers also passed a bill to make Maryland the first state to require public school children to take gun-safety classes. And they approved a $505 million capital budget that will fund a host of construction projects across the state, including $800,000 for the Round House Theatre in Montgomery County and $400,000 for the Hyattsville Municipal Complex in Prince George's County. Senators girded for a grueling final battle over the death penalty moratorium. Advocates, who included many liberal and black lawmakers, had called for a timeout on executions until a University of Maryland criminologist finishes an exhaustive search for evidence of racial disparity in the state's system of capital punishment. The study is scheduled for completion in September 2002. Black legislators are convinced that there is prejudice because nine of the 13 people! on death row are black and most of their victims were white. Three of the four men facing execution this year are black. But opponents viewed the moratorium as the first step toward abolishing the death penalty in Maryland. Led by Sen. Walter M. Baker (D-Cecil), they had been prepared to filibuster until midnight and stall pending legislation. "You don't need a study group. More black people get executed. There are more black people that murder than white people here in Maryland," said Baker, a former prosecutor. "It's got nothing to do with black and white." Fed up with continued delays, about 50 death penalty foes watching from the Senate gallery unfurled a banner shortly after 10 p.m. and burst into an angry chant: "You say death row. We say, 'Hell no!' " The outburst echoed throughout the chamber and the marble halls of the State House as police escorted the young activists into the rain. Outside, they briefly continued to chant before a small bank of television c!ameras. "We were sick that they weren't even willing to bring it to a vote," 17-year-old Anna Fitzgerald, of Baltimore, said of the moratorium. "It was a sham." Since Maryland reinstated the death penalty in 1978, three men have been executed. Without a moratorium, four executions are likely to take place this year alone. First in line is a white inmate, Steven Howard Oken, who was sentenced to die after raping and killing three women in 1987. Illinois is the only state that has declared a moratorium. During a busy last day of lawmaking, legislators also agreed on a plan to help elderly Marylanders afford the rising costs of prescription drugs, approving a $28 million package expected to provide relief to more than 100,000 seniors over the next two years. Frustrated with the failure of Congress to make pharmacy coverage a routine part of Medicare, lawmakers expanded state pharmacy subsidies to help the estimated one-third of Medicare recipients who must pay for drugs! on their own. "Every senior in the state has a chance to get coverage under this bill," said Del. Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), a key architect of the measure. The package will provide three forms of aid:. A state-subsidized insurance plan for seniors who earn less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level (about $35,000 per couple). The plan, which will pay for $1,000 worth of drugs per year, will charge recipients a $10 monthly premium, plus co-payments of $10 to $35 per prescription.. A statewide expansion of the Medbank system, which links needy seniors with free drug programs operated by drug companies.. A request that federal authorities let the state sell drugs to Medicare recipients at the discounted price now available only to those who receive Medicaid, the national health plan for the poor. For seniors who make less than 175 percent of the federal poverty level, the state will provide an extra subsidy to reduce the cost of a $110 prescription, for !example, to about $65, Busch said. Funding for the drug plan will come primarily from a penalty on three large insurance companies that have done an inadequate job of providing comprehensive and affordable health care to the poor, lawmakers said. Currently granted a 4 percent discount on the price of hospital admissions, the insurers will in the future receive a 2 percent discount, allowing the state to raise about $22 million per year. An additional $6.5 million will come from the state's general fund. "This bill provides a temporary and partial solution to an extreme hardship on consumers, and we hope Congress will act quickly to provide comprehensive relief," said Jane O'Leary, a representative of the Maryland Senior Citizens Action Network. Lawmakers also approved legislation to license the nearly 500 lobbyists who represent various business concerns and special interests in Annapolis and subject them to sanctions for ethical infractions. The bill received prelim!inary approval in February but was stalled until yesterday because the two chambers could not agree whether to let lobbyists serve on state boards and commissions. In a last-minute deal sealed over the weekend, lawmakers agreed to let lobbyists who already serve on state boards remain for one more year. The measure does not affect dozens of lobbyists who represent counties, state agencies and other public entities, a "glaring omission," according to Sen. Jean W. Roesser (R-Montgomery). Lawmakers also approved a measure that requires students to take a gun-safety class sometime between kindergarten and sixth grade, and another gun-safety class before graduating high school. The proposal passed after a long debate between the National Rifle Association and gun-control advocates over the scope and content of the classes. The final version would allow local school boards the option of using courses designed by the NRA but would prohibit the use of guns and ammunition in clas!srooms. "It's a significant first," said House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Allegany), who said he proposed the legislation after a spate of school shootings across the nation. "What we really have is a new development, one that I believe will ultimately lead to a more educated population." Yesterday's last-minute maneuvering capped a fractious session dominated by bickering over the state budget, a $21 billion document bulging with new spending for Gov. Parris N. Glendening's top priorities, including public schools, higher education, anti-sprawl programs and a $500 million package to improve bus and subway service. Some legislative budget leaders complained that the governor was building expensive monuments to his legacy at the expense of state health-care programs, which are showing signs of financial neglect. Republican leaders also complained that the budget is growing too fast when the economic outlook is uncertain. Last year, a surging stock market showered M!aryland with a nearly $1 billion surplus. This year, a surplus of only $375 million is projected, and Glendening (D) proposes to spend it all, as well as nearly $500 million from the state's rainy-day fund. Lawmakers are concerned because state budget officials project a revenue slowdown late next year. In the end, Glendening accepted small cuts in his own programs and agreed to provide more money for health care, prompting the General Assembly to approve his budget with few substantial trims. One major source of new health care funds will be a tax-amnesty measure for those who have not paid their state taxes. The amnesty plan is expected to raise as much as $50 million for state programs, with $30 million dedicated to reducing an accumulated deficit of $42 million in the state mental health programs. In general, Glendening's agenda sailed through the legislature this year with occasional moments of drama but few major glitches. The governor added drunken driving to !his list of priorities for the first time, and lawmakers adopted major revisions to the state's drunken driving laws. Two recalcitrant committee chairmen -- spurred by a threatened loss of federal funds -- finally released from their committees a measure that will reduce the blood-alcohol level that defines a driver as drunk from 0.10 to 0.08, bringing Maryland in line with the District and Virginia. Lawmakers also closed a legal loophole that prevents prosecutors from telling judges and juries that a driver refused to submit to a breath test. Prosecutors say the new law will make it easier to win convictions against drunk drivers, who kill about 200 people a year on state roadways. And the General Assembly approved a package of bills Glendening has dubbed his "justice, fairness and inclusion" initiative. The bills fund a study of racial profiling by police agencies, encourage state agencies to award one-quarter of contracts to businesses owned by minorities and women, and! bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.<emStaff writers Matthew Mosk and Tracey Reeves contributed to this report.