Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, left, gives opening remarks at Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative meeting June 4, 2024. Attorney General Anthony Brown jots down notes. Photo by William J. Ford.
A group tackling mass incarceration in Maryland released recommendations Thursday and plans to produce a report by next month, in time for the General Assembly to possibly take up some of the recommendations as legislation during the 2025 session that starts Jan. 8.
The 18 recommendations from the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) aim to fix the imbalance in state sentencings: Maryland’s Black population accounted for 32% of the state population in 2023, but about 71% represent those incarcerated in correctional facilities, the group notes.
“The impact of mass incarceration extends far beyond the restrictive, steel bars to crippling the financial, social and emotional growth of families and communities,” according to a statement said by Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, who co-chairs the collaborative with Attorney General Anthony Brown (D).
“The ripple effect of prioritizing punitive policies and practices over data-driven approaches, coupled with racially disparate implementation, has irreparably damaged individuals and devastated communities,” her statement said.
Suggestions include a proposal for legislation that would enhance data reporting requirements to include data on race and gender; re-examine the use and efficacy of consent searches to reduce unnecessary interactions with police and allow for more appropriate utilization of law enforcement; and end nonsafety-related traffic stops.
Sen. Charles Sydnor (D-Baltimore County) is working on a bill to do just that, or at least reduce them. His legislation proposes to downgrade a number of current primary violations to secondary status, but the president of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association has said it would fight that “ridiculous” legislation.
Another MEJC proposal calls for increasing the number of people eligible for early parole considerations “due to serious medical conditions and having reached an age where they no longer pose a threat to public safety.”
Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) sponsored a similar measure during the 2024 legislative session that sought to remove the governor from the medical parole process. It passed in the Senate, but stalled in the House. Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel) sponsored a companion bill, which did not advance out of the House Judiciary Committee, where she serves as vice chair.
Members of the justice collaborative, which voted on the recommendations, comprise of more than three dozen members who include law enforcement officials, nonprofit and community leaders, criminal justice reform experts and returning citizens.
They are separated into seven work groups: criminal law and sentencing reform; education, workforce development and economic opportunity; health and human services; law enforcement and police practices; prison, jail and detention facility reform; promoting successful reentry and preventing incarceration; and youth justice reform.
Some of the other recommendations include:
- Developing a pilot program to improve access to trauma-informed mental health treatment for those incarcerated in detention centers and jails;
- Conducting a comprehensive study on the financial obligations imposed on individuals under probation and parole “and their impact on successful reentry”;
- Expanding and improving community-based reentry programming by creating a protocol to share specific service needs of those incarcerated; and
- Limiting the automatic charging of children in adult criminal court.
“No single person created mass incarceration, and no single person can correct its devastating effects on communities of color across Maryland,” Brown said in the statement. “These recommendations are a crucial first step in making our State fairer, and safer, for all. Just as this crisis has harmed Black communities for decades, our efforts will impact Maryland families for generations, helping them heal from the trauma of mass incarceration.”