juvenile detention

Some youth in Maryland spend more than a year in adult jails before seeing their day in court. Without a fix, the state may lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding every year.

State lawmakers are considering a measure that would significantly reduce the number of youth the state charges in adult courts.

Legislation being considered by lawmakers in Annapolis would end the the automatic charging of juveniles as adults in the course of prosecution for certain crimes.

According to a new report, more than 70% of adults incarcerated in Maryland for crimes they committed as children were physically abused before being locked up.

The trend is a sign that the Maryland criminal justice system has been treating more teens as adults than in the past.

House approved changes with near unanimous but reluctant support from Democrats.

The teen, now 16, shot Timothy Reynolds in July 2022 after Reynolds approached him and other squeegee workers wielding a baseball bat.

Maryland public defenders say youth face horrible conditions at the Baltimore County jail. A reporter visits the jail to investigate.

Baltimore County leaders say they are investigating conditions and practices at the county jail after the Maryland Office of the Public Defender decried the jail’s treatment of juveniles in a letter last week.

Children charged as adults and held at the Baltimore County jail are held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day with limited access to showers, medical care or laundry, according to the Office of the Public Defender.