Delegate Joe Boteler posted this note on Facebook Sunday:

Earlier this month, a panel appointed by Governor O’Malley and legislative leaders recommended that the state of Maryland abolish the death penalty. Since the decision was announced, I have received numerous phone calls from constituents concerned about the future of capital punishment in Maryland.

Should the Maryland General Assembly consider another bill to abolish the death penalty, I will strongly oppose it. I have always believed that the death penalty is an appropriate option for those who commit the most heinous crimes. Judging by my conversations from people throughout northeastern Baltimore County , I believe most of my constituents share this view.

In the past, there was always a possibility that an innocent person might be condemned to death row. In recent years, however, DNA testing and other techniques have greatly improved the field of forensics. In my mind, there is a near-impossibility that someone could be wrongly executed today.

There are people who say that the death penalty is not a deterrent to future crime. If the death penalty were more widely applied, perhaps it would have a greater deterrent affect. Maryland has five men on death row right now, and only five inmates have been executed in this state since Maryland reinstated capital punishment in 1978.

What is to say that these most violent criminals will not kill a corrections officer or another innocent person while serving on death row?

Maryland should not only continue the death penalty, but it should more aggressively apply the death penalty for serious crimes. Unfortunately, the Maryland Court of Appeals effectively halted capital punishment in 2006 until new regulations were developed.

Governor O’Malley wants to end the death penalty, and there are shrinking majorities of legislators willing to stand up to the governor and continue capital punishment. You can rest assured I will be one of them.