The Maryland Senate has passed a bill that would remove the governor from the parole process for prisoners serving life sentences who are chronically ill or dying and meet strict standards.

Lawmakers signed off on the bill on Friday with a vote of 36-10.

Under Maryland law, people have to be “so chronically debilitated or incapacitated” that they physically cannot pose a danger to society to qualify for medical parole. The Code of Maryland Regulations, meanwhile, states that prisoners must be “imminently terminal” or have a condition for which “continued imprisonment would serve no useful purpose.”

The legislature in 2021 passed a bill that removed the governor from the regular parole process for those serving life sentences. But legislators did not make that change for medical parole.

“It was really a technical error,” said state Sen. Jill Carter, a Democrat from Baltimore and lead sponsor of the bill, on the floor. “I think this is not a bill that should cause any consternation,” she later added.

This story continues. Read the rest at The Baltimore Banner:  Maryland Senate passes bill to remove governor from parole process for sick, dying prisoners

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