A Survivor's View on the Death Penalty

Food for thought: although not directly related to our cause, this Gazette letter from the mother of a murder victim is asserting that the death penalty does more than harm than good for victims' families.

The sad reality is that the death penalty handcuffs the surviving families of homicide victims to decades of legal procedures. In the end, the vast majority are resentenced to life without parole, which could have been sought at trial.

Recently, a new law in Maryland that raised the standards of evidence in death penalty cases. The letter writer expressed worry that the new law may drag such cases out longer.

Meanwhile, something to keep an eye on: Shawn Henderson has filed a motion for a reconsideration of his sentence, which is life without the possibility of parole, plus 20 years, for killing Lindsay Harvey. Recall that the sentencing judge, Terrence McGann, was adamant that Henderson never be allowed to set foot outside a maximum security prison for the rest of his life.

Sidney Katz For Mayor

If you live in Gaithersburg, then you probably know that there is an election taking place on Nov. 3. The mayor's office, along with two city council positions, are up for grabs.

Sidney Katz, who has served as Gaithersburg's mayor for the past 11 years, is being challenged in this year's election by Richard Koch, a real estate developer. Koch believes the time has come for a change in Gaithersburg. Katz has also come under fire from Demos Chrissos, a former city council candidate who expressed his thoughts this week in a letter to the Gazette.

I am not a Gaithersburg resident, but I covered the city council for a year and a half as a reporter for the Gazette. Last year I used those connections to get the city to support our efforts to bring truth in sentencing to the state of Maryland.

I don't claim to know the ins and outs of Gaithersburg politics as well as I used to, but I will tell you this. When I approached Sidney last year at his Wolfson's Department Store in Olde Towne and told him about the Justice For Safety movement and our desire that the City of Gaithersburg endorse legislation that would reform the early release credit system in Maryland, I barely even had to tell him the reason why I had gotten involved with this effort before he agreed to it immediately.

Since then, the city has held a work session to raise public awareness of the issue, and it sent two of its representatives to Annapolis last March to testify in support of Senate Bill 354 and House Bill 581.

I found it curious and interesting that Mr. Chrissos believes that Mayor Katz should be "held accountable for the rise in violent crime and gang activity during his watch". With all due respect to Chrissos (who I also know from my Gazette days), if he is aware of just how flawed our criminal and correctional systems are in Maryland, then he should also know that there is only so much the mayor of a small city like Gaithersburg can do to curb violent crime, especially recidivist violent crime.

Should Richard Koch upset Mr. Katz in the Nov. 3 election, then I will certainly make him aware of our group and the city's past efforts in helping us get our message across and ask him to continue that practice. Having said that, I do hope Gaithersburg residents will re-elect Katz, so that one of our known staunch allies will be in position to continue to assist us in our efforts.

Gazette Letter: Violent Offenders Get Off Too Easy

From today's Gazette. A letter from the vice-chairman of the Maryland Victim Services Impact Board calling for reform of the state's early release credit program.