Governor Martin O'Malley says he will reluctantly move forward with getting Maryland's execution protocol approved.

Governor Martin O'Malley (D) says he will reluctantly move forward with getting Maryland's execution protocol approved. Maryland's highest court ruled in late 2006 (see Dec. 19, 2006) that the state could not hold another lethal injection until a legislative committee gives proper approval to the rules about how executions are carried out. O'Malley is adamantly opposed to capital punishment, and has waited to see how legislation to repeal the death penalty fared in the General Assembly. Repeal legislation has failed two years in a row. O'Malley says he won't stand in the way of the law and will direct the state's corrections agency to start developing the new protocols. Last session, the General Assembly set up a commission to study the death penalty.