Maryland: 2 Commutations of Sentence

The Baltimore Sun and Washington Post report that Gov. Martin O'Malley is "taking steps" to grant clemency to two inmates serving life sentences. The commutations would be the first granted in his administration (after denial of 57 applications recommended by state's parole commission).

The inmates are Mark Farley Grant and Tamara Settles, both convicted of felony murder. Grant's case has the backing of The Innocence Project, a relative of the victim and the former prosecutor in the case (a former chair of the state parole commission). The 53 year old Settles "lured" a man to a location where her boyfriend attempted a robbery. The victim was killed in the process, but the boyfriend served only 9 years.

The Sun also reports:

Successive Maryland governors have paroled fewer and fewer lifers amid a growing number of requests. Gov. Marvin Mandel released 92 convicts serving life sentences during his term; Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who has since lamented his "life means life" stance, freed six lifers, all of them because of medical reasons. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., O'Malley's Republican predecessor, released six inmates.

See story here and here.