Can We Execute the Death Penalty By Not Using it?

Let’s not beat around the bush. Let’s just admit it right up front before we continue. I am adamantly, totally, unequivocally 100% against the use of capital punishment. If I were the victim of a horrible murder, no matter how gruesome, nor matter how sickening, no matter how inhuman my murder may be (and let’s not get any ideas out there, okay?), I do NOT want my government to execute my killer in my name. I’d want that bastard to spend the rest of his natural life in prison (especially if he were young at the time he killed me) rather than face execution. And if you’re the type who says, “I don’t want my tax dollars to be spent on keeping this kind of scum alive,” then you should be thanking me, because I will personally be saving you a fortune from the great beyond. You see, when someone is sentenced to death,

Wherein I Salute Chris Kluwe

Our story, at least the part that immediately pertains to us, begins in February of this year when the state of Maryland passed a marriage equality law. In order to gain passage in the House of Delegates, the bill’s authors had to agree to allow for someone to try to get a ballot referendum vote in November. At the time, polls were evenly split on the issue among the people of Maryland. But that was before President Obama came out in support of marriage equality, after a little prodding by Vice President Joe Biden. (How can you not love Joe?) Between those two events, opponents of the new law managed to get the issue onto a ballot referendum. After Obama announced his support for marriage equality, polls among African American voters showed increasing support.

Enter Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo.