Latest news with #HouseBill853
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate, House approve Second Look Act in quick succession, send it to governor
Sen. Joanne C. Benson (D-Prince George's) praises Sen. Charles Sydnor III after his emotional speech before the Senate voted to approve the Second Look Act on Thursday. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) Just hours after the Senate approved the Second Look Act, the House on Thursday quickly accepted Senate amendments to the bill that gives a second chance to long-serving incarcerated individuals and sent the measure to the governor for his signature. It capped months of debate of emotional, and often personal, debate on House Bill 853, which critics said would bring needless new suffering to victims of crime, but supporters said would provide a deserved second chance to those in prison who had turned their lives around. The Senate on Wednesday, by a one-vote margin, approved an amendment that would make the Second Look Act unavailable to anyone convicted of killing a first responder in the line of duty. That cleared the way for the Senate to approve the bill 31-16 and sent it back to the House, which had approved the bill two weeks ago, on an 89-49 vote. House members voted 89-47 for the amended bill Thursday night and sent it to the governor. Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County), the lead sponsor of the House bill, was not a fan of many of the amendments the bill picked up along the way, but said after Thursday's vote that 'you have to start somewhere.' 'No one is born into this world or wakes up in the morning to think about doing evil or doing wrong to other people,' Pasteur said. 'I am looking forward to these people who are willing to be out in our communities, helping some of these young people who feel alone and abandoned … Now some of these people will be able to make a difference in their lives,' she said. Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) said the bill is about protecting those who are prison, but who are innocent. 'This is about people who languish in our state prisons for decades for a crime they didn't commit,' Acevero said. 'Where is the compassion for them? Where is the justice for those folks? I heard none of that from the minority party in the entirety of the debate on this bill. This is what you call legislating for the innocent.' House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R-Frederick) responded, telling Acevero, 'I always enjoy when you get up.' 'You just made an assertion on the floor that every single person locked up for killing someone, killing a kid, killing police officers are all innocent, according to your speech … So, I take offense that,' Pippy said looking Acevero's direction. 'We have folks that have done very bad things and they're incarcerated for it, and we don't want those individuals getting out and revictimizing a whole bunch of other people,' Pippy said. Under the bill, some people who have served at least 20 years of a prison sentence could petition the court for a sentence reduction. That option would not be available to someone sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or to a sex offender — and, after the Senate amendment, to someone convicted of killing a first responder, like a police officer, firefighter or paramedic. The bill had already been narrowed once from the version Pasteur had drafted, limiting the second chance in the act to those convicted of a crime they committed between the ages of 18 and 25. An individual who appeals to the court for a reduced sentence and is denied would have to wait three years before filing another petition. Prisoners could file up to three petitions, but 'an individual may not file a fourth motion to reduce the duration of the sentence,' according to the bill. Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary's), who voted against the bill Thursday, sponsored the Senate amendment Wednesday to put the act out of those convicted of killing a first responder 'in the line of duty.' That amendent passed on a slim 24-23 margin. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) said people convicted of violent offenses who had harmed others 'on purpose' could receive a second look under the bill. 'We've done a lot to try to reform the criminal justice system in this state. This body, I think, has gone too far,' Ready said during Thurday's nearly 25-minute debate in the Senate. 'These were people convicted as adults of very serious crimes. They should not get a second look that's really a 17th or 18th look.' The bill's supporter have long said that it is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for what opponents call the worst of the worst, but something for those who have really turned their lives around. Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), defended the bill Wednesday, highlighting how courts can assess several factors to determine whether someone incarcerated has earned a reduced sentence. Some factors would include a person's age at the time of offense, demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation and that person's family background. On Thursday, Sydnor stood in the Senate and highlighted that all victims' families 'are not a monolith.' He began to choke up when he recalled the summer of 1991, when his cousin was shot in the head. A few years ago, Sydnor said a session ended to honor another cousin who suddenly died around Sydnor's birthday. 'The story goes in my family he died of a broken heart. His brother was murdered,' Sydnor said while choking up. 'If these people, whoever committed those crimes, showed that they did what they needed to do to reenter society, I'd welcome them with open arms. As I said yesterday, this is about grace. I stand on that.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate amends Second Look Act to make it unavailable to those who kill a first responder
Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary's). (File photo by Bryan P. Sears) By the narrowest of margins Wednesday, the Senate voted to amend the Second Look Act, which gives long-term incarcerated individuals a second chance at life, to make it unavailable to those convicted of killing a first responder. Eleven Senate Democrats joined all 13 Republicans to pass the amendment 24-23, before giving preliminary approval to the bill. The amendment means that if House Bill 853 wins final approval in the Senate it would have to go back to the House to accept or reject the change, with only five days left in this year's legislative session. The amendment by Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary's) was the only one of three in the Senate that was successful. It said a person convicted of killing a first responder 'in the line of duty' would not be eligible to petition the court for a reduced sentence under the Second Look Act. State law defines a first responder as a person such as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency medical technician. 'This amendment is meant to respect the job of our public safety officers, their families, to protect the victims, to protect the surviving family members, so that they never have to relive this tragedy that they had to go through,' Bailey said in the Senate Wednesday. Sen. Pamela Beidle (D-Anne Arundel), one of the Democrats who crossed the aisle to support Bailey's amendment, said after the vote that a main reason she supported the amendment is because her father was a police officer. Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), who sponsored a Senate version of the bill and who served as the floor leader for the House version Wednesday, summarized parts of the legislation by noting a key factor: A judge would determine whether a person can receive a reduced sentence. It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card, supporters insist. Under the bill, some people who have served 20 or more years of a prison sentence could petition the court for a sentence reduction. According to the bill approved in the House more than two weeks ago, eligible individuals are those convicted of a crime between the ages of 18 and 25. Besides having to have served at least 20 years in prison, a personcannot have been sentenced without the possibility of parole and cannot be classified as a sex offender to be eligible The court can assess several factors to determine whether someone incarcerated can have a reduced sentence. Those include the person's age at the time of offense, if that person completed an educational, vocational, or other programs and 'whether the individual has demonstrated maturity, rehabilitation, and fitness to reenter society sufficient to justify a sentence reduction.' In addition, a victim or a victim's representative may submit an impact statement to the court about the impact of a crime and proposed sentence reduction. Prior to the House passing the bill, supporters stressed the fact that a judge will weigh the merits in each case, and that the law would only apply to about 350 people. Sydnor also mentioned one other word during the nearly 50-minute debate Wednesday: grace. 'We all have grace, and this bill is about grace,' he said. 'I would hope that at some point forgiveness would overcome me, and I certainly would not oppose a judge looking at these factors to determine whether or not that individual has made good on the 20 years that they were incarcerated.' Sen. William G. Folden (R-Frederick) also talked about grace when he introduced an amendment to make those convicted for killing a child under age 13 ineligible for the act. 'I believe in the idea of what my friend from Baltimore County says about grace, but that grace should come extended from those that lost a loved one, not an arbitrary element of adding an additional 18th look back,' said Folden, who added that only the loved ones should be allowed to petition the court. His amendment was rejected 26-19. Sen. Paul D. Corderman (R-Washington and Frederick) offered an amendment to make those convicted of killing a probation officer ineligible. Corderman mentioned Davis Martinez, a 33-year-old parole agent killed last year while checking in on a parolee. 'He was killed doing his job, serving our state,' Corderman said. The Senate rejected his amendment 25-20. The sponsor of the bill, Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County), said after the House adjourned Wednesday evening that she was a bit speechless on the amendment from her bill approved by the Senate earlier. 'I'm still trying to process it,' she said.
