New Sentences For Death Row Inmates

Maryland has four inmates on death row. In 2013, though, the General Assembly repealed the state's authority to carry out executions. According to a report from the Capital News Service, two of those four inmates are currently seeking to have their sentences changed, a move with which we would agree.

CNS reporter Max Bennett wrote that Heath William Burch — on death row since 1996 for a double homicide — is seeking a commutation of his death sentence from Gov. Martin O'Malley to life without the possibility of parole. Attorneys for Jody Lee Miles, on the other hand, are asking Maryland's highest court — the Court of Special Appeals — to vacate Miles' death sentence. His attorneys are seeking a sentence of life with the possibility of parole.

Miles' attorneys are joined by Maryland's attorney general, Douglas Gansler, in seeking a court review of the sentence. But while Miles' attorneys are hoping to get the convicted murderer a second chance at life through a lesser sentence allowing for the possibility of parole, as well as access to work, education and rehabilitation programs, Gansler wants to ensure the rest of Miles' days are spent behind bars.
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