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A bill that would reduce the number of charges for which teenagers are automatically charged as adults passed out of the Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee on Friday, a sign the legislation has found purchase after more than a decade of advocacy by criminal justice reformers.
Youth charging reform bill clears key hurdle in Maryland Senate
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The bill -- a compromise that shortens the list of crimes that automatically result in adult charges -- passed out of the Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee on Friday.www.sentencingproject.org/reports/re-punished-for-the-past-how-criminal-records-increase-prison-t...
Take, for example, someone with a criminal record who received a 20 year sentence in Maryland. On average, 12.6 of those years were added to an initial sentence because of their record.
www.sentencingproject.org
States are re-punishing people for past convictions, adding years or even decades to already long prison terms because of old convictions.Olinda Moyd, a prison reform advocate who serves on a state correctional oversight board, said that whatever the label used to describe it, “isolation is isolation.” She described solitary confinement as a tool that is overused by prison administrators to control the population, despite the fact that is known to cause mental harm.
Maryland increasingly relies on isolating prisoners in ‘restrictive housing’
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Criminal justice reform advocates say the long stretches of forced solitude in Maryland are known to cause mental health issues and equate the conditions to torture.With Maryland’s state and local elections approaching in 2026, both voters and candidates should keep in mind that “tough on crime” may not be so smart, either for public safety or for our taxpayers’ burden.
'Tough-on-crime' and the smaller ideas that work better - Maryland Matters
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More time behind bars does not mean better outcomes for inmates, who would be better served if Maryland worked to trim its prison population and use the savings for programs to help those incarcerated...Comment on Facebook More time behind ...
Yea right crime is at all time highs democrats want to give that money to illegals
In Maryland, a recent report from a workgroup of the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging and Best Practices said that youth spent 90 to 180 days in adult jails before being transferred to juvenile court in fiscal 2024.
marylandmatters.org
Sen. William C. Smith Jr. will try again to pass a bill ending the practice of charging youth as adults for some offenses, saying it affects youths physically and emotionally. And if that argument doe..."The justification for felony murder is that it acts as a deterrent but studies have shown it does not deter or reduce risk of re-offence as it’s “hard for something to be a deterrent if no one knows about it”.
John Oliver on the ‘shocking’ use of felony murder charges in the US
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The host spoke about a little known charge that sends people to prison for life for murder even if they haven’t actually murdered anybody“This practice fails to protect communities. Instead, it disproportionately impacts children of color, diverts resources away from critical services for children and families, places children in dangerous environments that more often result in subsequent violent or general criminal behavior,” says the report.
Juvenile justice commission wants to stop automatically charging youth as adults - Maryland Matters
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A Maryland commission is recommending that the state do away with its practice of automatically charging youth as adults for certain crimes, saying it doesn't improve public safety and can harm the yo...The FCC said that the lowered rate caps were creating “unacceptable risks to safety and security.” However, the FCC did not actually provide any examples of lowered price caps leading to safety incidents.
Inmates will pay up to 83% more for phone calls, thanks to new FCC rule
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Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to allow prison telecommunication companies to charge incarcerated people up to 83% more for phone calls.Number of inmates in Maryland prisons rose 3.8% from 2022 to 2023, about twice the national average, federal report shows
US prison population rises for second straight year after years of decline - Maryland Matters
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The nation’s prison population grew for the second consecutive year in 2023, reversing more than a decade of steady decline. In Maryland, the numbers grew 3.8%, about twice the national average of 2...www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/maryland-prison-conditions-letter-4ISLC6GUF...
‘Indefinite lockdowns,’ extreme heat, prompt letter from Maryland prisoner advocacy group
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The Prisoner Rights Information System of Maryland put the state on notice over constitutional violations it's attributing to "indefinite lockdowns" at state prisons.Comment on Facebook The Prisoner Rights ...
Maryland prisoners in numerous facilities are spending nearly all their days locked in their cells, preventing opportunities for education, recreation, recovery support and other services to such an extent that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, according to a letter from a prisoners’ rights advocacy group.
