Latest news with #MarylandSecondLookAct
Washington Post
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Maryland prisoners poised to get `second look' on long sentences
Legislation offering a category of incarcerated people serving long sentences a chance to reduce those terms headed to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's (D) desk late Thursday after an emotional debate that brought advocates and lawmakers in both General Assembly chambers to tears. For Sen. Charles Sydnor III, a Baltimore County Democrat and co-sponsor of the Maryland Second Look Act, that debate was personal.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Some offenders were victims first; it's time to pass the Second Look Act
Women convicted of crimes related to their gender-based victimization — intimate partner violence, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking — are oftened sentenced as if they were not victims long before they became criminal defendants.(Photo by) This week, the Maryland Senate is scheduled to vote on HB 853, the Maryland Second Look Act. The Second Look Act would enable people who have served at least 20 years in prison to ask the court to reconsider sentences that may have seemed appropriate when first handed down but are no longer necessary to safeguard the public. People like our clients. The Gender, Prison, and Trauma Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law represents incarcerated women convicted of crimes related to their own gender-based victimization—intimate partner violence, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking. Despite their histories of victimization, the criminal justice system labels our clients offenders, often ignoring that they were victims long before they became criminal defendants. Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. Our clients frequently receive very long sentences — for defending themselves against abusive partners, acting under coercion or duress from abusive partners, or because they were unable to prevent their abusive partners from hurting their children. In cases involving felony murder and imputed liability, our clients are sentenced as though they were the people who carried out violent crimes, despite never having harmed anyone. Many of our clients are serving life in prison. Sentenced to long prison terms, our clients use their time in prison as productively as they can — to seek education, engage in programming, and learn skills that make them employment ready. They do so much programming, in fact, that within a few years, there is nothing left for them to take. Left to age in prison, our clients develop serious (and expensive to treat) medical issues. They grow old in a place that is not designed to meet the needs of the elderly. They are not dangerous. They are not violent. Our clients use the limited legal options that are available to them to seek review of their sentences. But most of those processes are focused on legal errors, and so don't take into account a person's programming, growth, or positive institutional record. The only pure review option, sentence modification, is severely time limited. Under current law, judges can only modify sentences if asked to do so within 90 days of the original sentence and within five years of the sentencing date. Judges are often disinclined to reconsider sentences that close in time to the original ruling and our clients may not have had time to amass the kind of record that might make a judge reconsider a sentence within that short period. Opponents of the Second Look Act argue that individuals who have been convicted of crimes of violence — the kinds of crimes that generate long sentences — are the 'worst of the worst.' Our clients are far from the worst. They have been convicted of crimes of violence, but they are not violent people. They are mothers and grandmothers, sisters and aunts. They are eager to show their sentencing courts the hard work they have done while incarcerated. They could be productive members of society if given the opportunity. All they ask is for the chance to make that case in court.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Second Look Act draws hours of testimony in House Judiciary Committee
A packed hearing room sat through hours of respectful, but tense, testimony over a bill that would let inmates petition for a sentence reduction after 20 years in prison. (Photo by Jack Bowman/Maryland Matters) For almost three hours, the exchanges were respectful but the tension was palpable as speakers debated a bill that would let inmates petition for a reduction in their sentences after 20 years in prison. There were brief moments of raised voices, occasional murmurs from the packed hearing room and a few speakers moved to tears. But for the most part, the sides stuck to the facts before the House Judiciary Committee as they debated whether inmates deserve a second look. The bill known as the Maryland Second Look Act would let an incarcerated individual file a petition to have their sentence reduced once they have served 20 years. The petition, filed in the circuit court where they were sentenced, could be approved by the court if the judge determines the inmate is no longer considered a danger to the public. More than 1,700 currently incarcerated individuals had served 20 or more years of their sentences as of January, according to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. More than 300 of those were serving life without parole sentences. Proponents say the bill would provide another avenue for incarcerated individuals who have been rehabilitated to rejoin society. Among the many speakers who testified in support of the bill were survivors of crime, members of advocacy groups and religious figures, and several who had served time in prison. 'We believe that they are worthy of a second opportunity,' said Anthony Muhammad, who told the committee that he has used his proverbial second chance to participate in community engagement. Muhammad said he was arrested at age 15 on two homicide charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years before being released after nearly 30 years, under the Juvenile Restoration Act. He said he knows dozens of individuals who have been incarcerated for decades, 'have demonstrated their maturity and rehabilitation' but have not been given the second look the bill would allow for. Supporters like Curtis Alston argued that incarcerated individuals can bring positive change on their release. Alston, who was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore to a task force studying inmate reentry, had previously been sentenced to multiple life terms. He said that people like him who have seen their sentences cut short have made a difference in their communities. 'Do you know how many people and how many lives that we have already saved since we've gotten home?' Alston said, raising his voice. 'Do you think that it's just the police force that has caused the homicide rate to go down?' While opponents were vastly outnumbered, they were just as passionate in their arguments over the proposal. One, Theresa Darvish, lost her son to a murder in late 2021. Darvish, after describing the devastation of losing her son, took issue with the bill allowing for a judge to reconsider a sentence once it has already been decided on, calling the proposed measures 'rampant and ambiguous.' 'This [bill] is retroactive,' Darvish said. 'But my judge cannot go back and retroactively resentence the thug, the murderer.' Opponents also point to the prospect of victims being forced to relive their trauma by relitigating the sentence when an inmate's petition is heard. Victims would be notified but would not be required to appear or testify when a case is reconsidered, but opponents say that reopening cases would be traumatizing. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'When does it end?' Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger (D) asked the committee. 'Somebody already said it doesn't end, and you're right. Don't add to it not ending.' Speakers on both sides were pressed by committee members on the issue of forcing victims to relive their trauma. Other concerns voiced by opponents included recidivism and the concept of the law giving a perceived break to violent offenders. This is the second year for the Second Look Act, which passed the Senate in 2024 only to stall in the House. Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County) was the lead sponsor last year and again this year, when the bill has garnered far more cosponsors.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Witnesses bring emotional testimony for, against Second Look Act
Anthony Muhammad talks to the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland about his support for the Second Look Act, which got a hearing later in the day Thursday from the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) Deborah Haskins' son, Joseph, was shot and killed in Baltimore City in 2013. A year later, her nephew, Rueben, was killed in Baltimore County. But Haskins said she believes in second chances for everyone, which is one reason why she was in Annapolis on Thursday to testify in support of the Maryland Second Look Act. Senate Bill 291 would allow someone in prison to petition courts for a sentence reduction. 'Not all victims are the same. We are not monoliths,' Haskins, a licensed therapist, told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. 'I decided that, for me, not to pass on generational trauma. I have to heal. Part of my healing includes forgiveness, and forgiveness is not an overnight process.' But for Dawn Collins, the bill would 'undermine the small justice' she won with the conviction of her son's killer. Collins gave tearful testimony as her husband, Richard Collins Jr., stood next to her and slowly turned 360 degrees to show committee members and the hearing audience a large, framed picture of their son, Richard W. Collins III. He was visiting a friend at the University of Maryland, College Park, when he was fatally stabbed in a racially motivated hate crime in May 2017, just days before he was set to graduate from Bowie State University. 'I am urging all lawmakers to oppose SB 291, and the no-limits approach to how it would benefit mass murderers, serial rapists, child sex offenders and those who have committed hate crimes, like the one who took my beloved son,' Dawn Collins said. 'The bill would undermine the small justice that was given in the case of my son's murder. I need to be able to continue to know that my son mattered.' Medical and geriatric parole bill back before Senate panel The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), would allow a person who has served at least 20 years of a prison sentence to petition the court for a sentence reduction. If denied, they could petition again after three years. An inmate could not file more than three petitions. A written decision would have to include the inmate's age at the time of the offense, whether they had participated in any education or vocational programs and 'whether the individual has demonstrated maturity, rehabilitation and fitness to reenter society sufficient to justify a sentence reduction.' A victim or victim's representative would be able to attend a court hearing on the petition, or submit a written statement. 'Victims will have full agency and autonomy on whether or not they want to participate in this process. For some it is a part of their healing process,' Sydnor said. 'Not everyone just wants people to be thrown away and forgotten about or feel revictimized. For some people, it is a part of that process.' But Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger (D) called the bill 'The 14th Look Back Act,' since it would repeatedly force victims like Dawn Collins to come back to court and relive the tragedy of a loved one killed. 'There needs to be some finality. I need to be able to say to tell Mrs. Collins, 'It's over. You don't have to come to court anymore and tell your story,'' Shellenberger said. Sydnor asked Shellenberger if there's 'a true finality' under the current criminal justice system. 'The answer is no,' Shellenberger said, 'But that doesn't mean we should add another [post-conviction remedy] every three years.' Criminal justice advocates have said everyone deserves a second chance, especially those who've shown they are rehabilitated. Anthony Muhammad talked about his second chance at life Thursday morning to the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland in Annapolis. Muhammad, who was arrested in 1993 at age 15 on two homicide charges, was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX After serving 29 years, 7 months and 29 days, Muhammad was released from prison in September 2022. Today, he's employed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and is a youth mentor with an organization known as Baltimore Brothers. 'I am just one of many of long-term returning citizens, people who have served two, three and four decades of incarceration here in the state of Maryland that are now doing amazing and wonderful things,' he said at the caucus meeting. 'I want to thank this caucus for making this piece of legislation a priority.' The measure, sponsored last year by former Sen. Jill P. Carter, passed the Senate then but stalled in the House. Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County), who presented the bill last year, is sponsoring the House version this year. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, but a hearing date has not been set.
