03-04-2025
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.
