Maryland passes package of bills to reform criminal justice system

CBS News

10-04-2025

The Maryland General Assembly passed three bills that aim to reform the state's criminal justice system.
Gov. Wes Moore
signed more than 90 bills
into law after the end of the 2025 legislative session Tuesday. Several of those bills addressed the state's economy and public safety, and more are still heading to his desk.
Three bills passed by the General Assembly are being praised by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and Public Defender Natasha Dartigue for addressing reform in the criminal legal system.
The
Geriatric and Medical Parole Reform bill
allows some incarcerated people who are older or sick to apply for early release.
The bill will change how the Maryland Parole Commission evaluates requests for medical parole, and add a meeting between the incarcerated person and the commission.
Under the bill, the commission is required to consider the age of an incarcerated person when determining if they should be granted parole.
The bill also takes away the governor's ability to deny a medical parole decision by the commission.
The Commission is now required to conduct a risk assessment to determine if releasing an incarcerated person will impact public safety.
"In just 18 months, we've made meaningful progress—offering relief to those who have been incarcerated far too long, particularly Black youth, and ensuring that individuals who are seriously ill or elderly have a chance to leave prison and live out their lives with dignity," Attorney General Brown said.
Lawmakers also passed the
Second Look Act,
a bill that allows courts to review long prison sentences for people who were convicted of a crime that occurred when they were between the ages of 18 and 25.
Attorney General Brown and Public Defender Dartigue praised the bill for creating pathways to redemption and acknowledging a person's transformation.
Under the bill, incarcerated individuals will be able to request that their sentence be reduced. The bill lists several criteria, for example, the person cannot have been sentenced to life in prison. They have to serve at least 20 years of their sentence, and they will not be considered if they were convicted of a murder that involved a first responder in the line of duty.
Similar bills were introduced during the 2025 legislative session, including the
Maryland Clean Slate Act
, which would have allowed some cannabis possession and misdemeanor charges to be expunged from criminal records. However, that bill did not pass.
The
Restorative Practices in Public Schools
bill requires the Maryland Department of Education to create a guide to establish restorative practices in daily school activities.
The restorative approach is proactive in setting behavioral expectations that contribute to the well-being of students. The practices focus on holding students accountable for harmful behavior.
Under the bill, the restorative approaches include peer meditation, conflict resolution, social emotional learning and trauma-informed care.
State education officials would help county school boards to implement the guidelines.
Attorney General Brown and Public Defender Dartigue praised lawmakers for their efforts in criminal justice reforms.
"The new laws are not simply policy—they are about real people, real families, and real communities finally seeing a path toward justice," Dartigue said. "Collectively, these laws will transform the lives of thousands of Marylanders, putting millions of dollars back into our state's coffers while striking at the heart of the racial injustices that have fueled our broken system of mass incarceration for far too long."
In 2023, Brown and Dartigue created the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) to address racial disparities in mass incarceration.
Ahead of the 2025 legislative session, they
shared their recommendations
and highlighted issues that they believe impact equality and fairness in the legal system.
Among their recommendations, the Public Defender's Office (OPD) called for an end to the automatic charging of minors as adults, saying the practice disproportionately impacts Black and brown children.
"While these reforms bring much-needed hope, our work is far from finished," Attorney General Brown said. "These changes are just the beginning, and we will continue to fight for broader reforms to ensure that all Marylanders have access to a truly equitable and just criminal legal system."