The dissent picked up two more votes on Maryland's death penalty study commission, reports Gadi Dechter in the Baltimore Sun.

In an interview, [Attorney General Douglas] Gansler, a Democrat, said that he did not believe lawmakers would be greatly influenced by the recommendations of a commission and that he expects the General Assembly to retain the practice."This commission was stacked from the beginning to come out with findings against the death penalty," said Gansler, a former chief prosecutor in Montgomery County. He said he supports the death penalty if it is handled in a "fair, race-neutral, socioeconomic-neutral way."