U.S. officials are increasingly looking abroad for how to design a better prison or jail system. In fact, at least 10 U.S. states now model some of their prison units or practices after prison systems in Western Europe and Scandinavia.
U.S. officials look to Europe to learn how to make prison better
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American prison officials are looking to European nations like Germany and Norway for a roadmap on how to design a prison that emphasizes rehabilitation and a successful return to life on the outside.www.thebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/carolyn-scruggs-maryland-corrections-OTVGMUG73BAYXN2...
Maryland's public safety and corrections chief is stepping down
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Carolyn Scruggs, who was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore in 2023, informed her staff Wednesday evening that she was departing, two sources said.www.mdsecondlook.com/uploads/1/4/7/9/147950346/final_lwop_report.pdf
For the roughly 400 individuals serving life without parole (LWOP) sentences in Maryland, they are condemned to die in prison, not by being put to death by the state, but from disease, violence, or old age.
www.vera.org/state-level-criminal-justice-progress-in-2026
Jurisdictions to watch: Blue states like Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia continued building on strong records of reform rather than resting on their laurels. Maryland enacted major reforms for the second consecutive year, including a Fair Chance Housing Act and the Youth Charging Reform Act
State-Level Criminal Justice Progress in 2026
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Vera works closely with government and civic leaders to urgently build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety, and strengthen…Comment on Facebook Vera works closely ...
I am a homeless Maryland resident with one year sobriety and have been blocked on social media by Jake Day the Maryland housing secretary for calling him out . The Supreme Court has previously ruled this illegal for office holders to block residents and I want to start a law suit asap
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Maryland officials, she said, cannot abdicate their duty to keep the people in their facilities safe. “That’s a constitutional obligation,” Deitch said. “It’s not just a good idea.”
Maryland prisons rank among nation’s worst for killings
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Since 2023, Maryland has had more prison homicides than all of its neighboring states combined. Its homicide rate last year was nearly four times the national average, based on available data gathered...The time has come for a major investment of time, energy, and money to make restorative justice diversion a common response to adolescent lawbreaking.
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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.
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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
