Maryland law requires minors accused of certain crimes, ranging from misdemeanor gun possession to assault and murder, be charged in adult criminal court. For more than a decade, a few state lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to change that law.
But this year, changing the law has some powerful support, including Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith, a Montgomery County senator who has promised to sponsor the measure, and the 64-member Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, which has named the effort among its top priorities during the current legislative session.
“This is a public safety bill,” Smith said at a Black Caucus press conference Thursday. “You're going to get better public safety outcomes when you get youth the services and the supports that they need so that they don't recidivate.”
The last version of the legislation considered in the General Assembly in 2023 would have started every criminal case involving a juvenile defendant in the Juvenile Court. Smith’s version, which has not yet been formally introduced, would start most of those cases in the Juvenile Court, but more serious charges, such as murder, would still land a teen in adult court.
Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, whose office has also named the initiative among its top priorities this session, said Smith’s approach doesn’t go far enough, that all juvenile defendants should begin their court proceedings in the Juvenile Court.
“To place a child in an adult detention facility is torturous,” Robin Salter, regional director of youth defense for the Office of the Public Defender, said at a rally in front of the State House Thursday. “They are not mentally, physically or emotionally able to deal with the legal process, let alone an incarceral process.”
But Smith said his approach is more likely to succeed given the politics surrounding the issue.
“We have to put down that foundation to show that we can do this and that it works, and that the data will drive those further decisions down the line,” Smith said. “I understand the climate that we’re in. I understand what our constituents want. They're very concerned about public safety.”
He said his bill will likely affect about 75% of the cases involving minors automatically charged as adults.
State data shows that between July 2021 and December 2023, only about 12% of the youth whose cases remained in the adult court at the end of their court proceedings were charged with rape or murder. About a quarter of those youth faced only misdemeanor crimes.
“If I did 75% of anything in my day, right, I'd be king of the king of the world, you know?” Smith said. “So it's a pretty good step forward.”
Even with Smith’s sponsorship, the measure’s success is far from guaranteed. Dayvon Love, director of public policy for the organization Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and a vocal advocate on this issue, said he gives the bill about a 50% chance of passing.
Smith’s sponsorship helps, Love said, but the effort still lacks the support of certain key legislative leaders.
Currently Maryland automatically charges more minors as adults than almost any other state. The overwhelming majority of the teens automatically charged as adults in Maryland are Black and nearly all are male.
