For more than a year, members of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) have worked to address what they say is a pressing issue: that Maryland has the nation’s highest percentage of Black people in its prisons relative to its general population.
According to the group — comprising of people from government, academia and those with firsthand experience in the criminal justice system — Black men make up 14% of Maryland’s general population, accounting for 73% of those incarcerated.
Black women, representing 16% of the state's population, make up 53% of those imprisoned.
During a virtual call with reporters Thursday, Attorney General Anthony Brown and Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, co-chairs of the MEJC, presented 18 recommendations formulated by seven workgroups:
Five of the proposals require legislators to act. For example, recommendation #2 calls for ending non-safety related traffic stops. Sen. Charles Sydnor (D-Baltimore County) is sponsoring a bill that would reduce the reasons for a police officer to stop a driver.
While there is no timeline for implementation, Brown and Dartigue argue that the recommendations will ultimately save taxpayer money.
“Think about those who are incapacitated that remain in jail. It is so costly to have them in jail, especially when they no longer pose a risk to public safety,” said Dartigue.
The report makes recommendations for different touch points within the criminal justice system from arrests, court processes to the conditions at detention facilities.
One significant recommendation is to limit the automatic charging of juveniles as adults.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who is not involved with MEJC, told WYPR that “discussions about limiting juvenile charges as adults are premature.”
He pointed out that the Department of Juvenile Services is already struggling with its caseload.
Still, Bates supports the final recommendation, which calls for better training for judges on topics like implicit bias, cultural competency, and adolescent brain development.
Brown said he would like to see the recommendations implemented “sooner than later.”
“We firmly believe that mass incarceration is a safety issue,” he said. “Over incarceration does not make us safer. The evidence shows it destabilizes communities. It perpetuates cycles of poverty. It undermines the trust in the justice system.”
