Kathleen Kennedy Townsend on Crime Former Democratic Challenger MD Governor

Supports moratorium on the death penalty

The timing of Glendening's "noble" announcement simply does not pass the smell test. Glendening could have imposed the moratorium at any time during his eight years as governor. Somehow, the governor's conscience on the matter isn't piqued until an election year, and just four days after Townsend officially announced her candidacy.

[Critics] believe Glendening imposed the moratorium at Townsend's request, that this whole farce is her 2002 version of playing the "race card" the Democrats played in the 1998 smear campaign against Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey. [One critic says,] "It's Townsend's way of saying that anyone who opposes her moratorium has a 'shameful record on civil rights.'"

Wait for death penalty study for advice on fairness

Robert Ehrlich, knowing his constituency, condemns the moratorium. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a backer of the death penalty but one who knows her own constituency, calls the moratorium a small price to pay while we wait for advice on fairness.

Community-oriented programs better than juvenile boot camps

The lieutenant governor has said that the department is heading in the right direction, concentrating on smaller, community-oriented programs and phasing out large, sometimes dangerous institutions.

But the issue refuses to fade. Last month, Maryland agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of 890 inmates who served time in the three camps. About half the money will pay for education for the former inmates, with the rest going to 60 teens who received a variety of injuries at the hands of guards.