The Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform (MAJR) is a nonpartisan, all-volunteer organization of more than 2000 Marylanders who advocate for evidence-based legislative and policy changes in Maryland’s correctional practices to support effective alternatives to incarceration, address inequities, and allow citizens returning from prison to lead productive lives.
We are working together to address the problem of mass incarceration in Maryland in several ways. We invite you to join us to accomplish our goals:
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- Alternatives to incarceration
- Taxpayer savings
- Strong communities
- Ending inequities
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- To fully support alternatives to incarceration where appropriate;
- To save taxpayer dollars and reallocate the savings to build safer communities;
- To strengthen Maryland communities by supporting families, helping people returning from jails and prisons lead productive lives, and preventing crime;
- To end inequities in our justice system.
MAJR introduces Yvonne Briley-Wilson
Maryland’s First Correctional Ombudsman
We'll explore how CIPA ensures children understand their rights, empowering them to refrain from speaking to law enforcement without proper legal representation. By equipping children with the knowledge and confidence to exercise these protections, CIPA aims to eliminate the need for police deception altogether.
Child Interrogation Protection Act: Fact vs. Fiction
docs.google.com
Event Date and time: October 22, 2024 at 6 p.m. Location: The Space at the Shops of Waldorf, 2901 Festival Way, Waldorf, MD Join us for an in-depth discussion on the Child Interrogation Protection Act...“It [the ombudsman’s office] has the potential to bring accountability and transparency to our correctional systems that frankly just hasn’t been there,” she said.
Maryland’s new prison watchdog just got its first leader
www.thebaltimorebanner.com
Gov. Wes Moore appointed Yvonne Briley-Wilson as the head of the new state agency that will examine prison conditions.In Baltimore, Black residents tend to be hit the hardest by public health crises, but results from a community survey released Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University show that income level and educational attainment are more powerful than race at predicting whether a Baltimorean has lost someone close to them from a drug overdose.
www.baltimoresun.com
In Baltimore, Black residents tend to be hit the hardest by public health crises. But results from a community survey released on Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University show that income level and educ…Tell me more about…
| Our Justice System | Mass Incarceration |
| Solitary Confinement | Racial Inequality |
| Mental Health | Education |
| Recidivism | Pretrial Justice |
| Pandemic – COVID-19 | Police Action |
The Power of Prosecuters: An Overview
Maryland shouldn’t wait any longer for criminal justice policies that work!
- Maryland’s incarceration rates & taxpayer costs more than tripled in 20 years (1980-2000) — including a 55% increase for nonviolent offenders1 — but crime rates held constant2. Our incarceration rates and costs—over $45,870 per inmate per year3 — remain near record-high levels.
- African-Americans, only 25 per cent of Maryland’s population, disproportionately constitute 78 per cent of the inmate population4. Upon release, a prison record damages employment prospects. With programs to reduce the “collateral consequences” of imprisonment like those that have proven successful in other states, returning citizens could find jobs, support their families, and become taxpayers themselves, rather than being supported by taxpayers.
- Maryland’s recidivism rate – new offenses that return an offender to prison within 3 years—has hovered between 41 and 51%. Other states such as Virginia and Oregon use evidence-tested methods to reduce these rates to 28% and 23%5.
- Like other states Maryland can employ “Justice Reinvestment” and make evidence-based policy improvements to substantially reduce recidivism, reduce crime, and simultaneously reduce taxpayer costs. Maryland’s Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council is engaged in a 2-year review of the justice system in which stakeholders are invited to participate.
Click here to view our flyer introducing MAJR and its initiatives.
