Latest news with #SecondLookAct
New York Post
02-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
NY politicians cravenly aim to deny me the justice I'm owed for my son's murder
I have a question for every New York lawmaker pushing the Earned Time Act, Fair and Timely Parole Act, Elder Parole and Second Look Act: Does our pain mean anything to you? How do you fight so hard for the early release of murderers, yet forget the lives they destroyed? How do you look grieving families in the eye — if you even bother to — and still push bills that undo justice for the worst crimes imaginable? How do you fight to give mercy to violent offenders who showed none to the loved ones they murdered? You call it restorative justice and convince yourselves it's about rehabilitation, fairness, reform and second chances. You lean on talking points about over-incarceration, racial disparities, aging prison populations and taxpayer costs. And in doing so, you ignore the voices of those most affected. But let me be clear: There is no restoration for a life taken. There is no second chance for a murder victim. My son's life was taken by a violent, senseless act. He had his whole life ahead of him—a future, goals, a family who loved him deeply. He mattered. And when the person responsible was convicted, I sat in court and listened to the sentence. It felt like someone had finally said: What happened to him mattered. I believed we could begin to grieve, knowing the justice system had recognized the depth of our loss and the seriousness of the crime. How do you advocate for laws that will shorten sentences and hand out second chances to people who never gave their victims one? You talk about reform like it's progress, but for families like mine, it feels like betrayal. These bills don't promote healing — they reopen wounds. You are so focused on helping the people who caused the pain, you've completely forgotten the ones who live with it. These bills are gut punches to every family of a homicide victim who believed the sentence handed down in court would mean something. We were told justice had been served. Now you want to take that back — disguised as 'parole reform' — while ignoring the very real pain and trauma grieving families carry forever. Where is the fairness for the families who live with this pain every single day? You tell yourselves a story that makes it easier to forget ours. It's easier to push a set of bills when you've turned a blind eye to the reality behind the sentence — and an even blinder eye to the irreparable harm caused by the offender. You disconnect from the devastation. When you pass laws that prioritize criminals over victims, you're not reforming the system — you're erasing us. Stop acting like our pain is just an unfortunate side effect of your so-called reform. You shouldn't get to build a political legacy by trampling on the families already shattered by violent crime. Justice is not disposable. And victims deserve more than your indifference. Victims' families, like mine, find it beyond outrageous and callous that you would seek to lessen consequences for violent offenders while brush off the suffering of those they harmed. You are determined to help incarcerated individuals, even if it means re-traumatizing families of homicide victims in the process. We are not collateral damage in your agenda. We were promised justice. Don't take that away from us. We deserve justice — that lasts. And to every New Yorker who believes in real justice — your voice matters. Speak up. Demand that lawmakers stop rewriting sentences and start standing with victims. We cannot allow violent offenders to be treated as if they're the ones who've been wronged. Theresa Bliss is a victims' rights advocate from Suffolk County. After losing her son to homicide, she dedicated herself to fighting legislation that prioritizes violent offenders over victims.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers call for sentencing reforms as Marcy officers return to court
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Lawmakers and advocates are calling for the passing of sentencing reforms as three corrections officers appear in court Tuesday morning. Three of the officers connected to the deadly beating of Robert Brooks are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in Utica. They were offered more time to decide on their plea agreements, despite objections from the prosecution. Meanwhile, in Albany, lawmakers are calling for the passage of the Second Look Act, Earned Time Act, and Marvin Mayfield Act. These bills aim to allow incarcerated individuals to apply for sentence reductions and eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, among other changes Some of the advocates of these bills include the family of Robert Brooks. Investigators say Brooks was beaten in an infirmary at Marcy Correctional Facility and died from the attack. Multiple officers have been charged with murder. The three officers will be in court at 9:30 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
23-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Nearly 150 bills signed into Maryland law, with some focusing on criminal justice reform
Maryland Gov. Moore signed nearly 150 bills into law Tuesday, including several that focus on criminal justice reform and improving public safety. The latest round of new state laws comes after the governor signed 94 bills after the end of the 2025 legislative session in early April. While the bills have been signed by the governor, many do not go into effect until later in the summer or fall of 2025. New bills on criminal justice reform, public safety Several of the bills signed into law this week focus on criminal justice and prison reform. The Second Look Act gives convicted criminals a chance to request a shorter prison sentence if the crime occurred while they were between 18 and 25 years old. The bill allows incarcerated individuals to request that their sentence be reduced if they meet certain criteria, like having served at least 20 years of their sentence. Gov. Moore also signed SB181, which requires the Maryland Parole Commission to consider the age of an incarcerated person when deciding if they should be granted parole. Another bill, HB775, requires the Commissioner of Corrections to notify certain representatives when an incarcerated person dies in a correctional facility. It also requires the Department of Public Safety and Correction Services to comply with certain federal regulations. The Organized Retail Theft Act of 2025 was also signed into law this week. The bill cracks down on people who commit thefts in multiple counties in an effort to stay below Maryland's $1,500 theft threshold. 142 bills signed into law Of the 142 bills that Gov. Moore signed Tuesday, some also focus on the rising use of Artificial Intelligence, like HB956, which creates a workgroup to monitor and make recommendations about the regulation of AI. Another bill, SB305, focuses on the rise of cryptocurrency. The bill establishes requirements for virtual currency kiosk operators and allows the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to investigate and enforce those requirements. Here are some of the other bills that were signed into law this week: Buddy's Law increases the amount of compensation from $10,000 to $25,000 for the owner of a pet that was injured or killed by another person or pet. The Maryland Secondary Market Stability Act establishes a workgroup to study and make recommendations about licensing requirements for those who provide financial services. SB186 establishes the Invasive Blue Catfish Pilot Program to slow the spread of the blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay. SB550 authorizes Baltimore City leaders to impose a property tax on vacant and abandoned properties owned by certain organizations that would otherwise be exempt.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Criminal record expungement, parole reform measures signed into law
Gov. Wes Moore (D) embraces Carlos Battle, who spent 10 years trying to get his record expunged. He said no one should have to wait that long, and hopes the Expungement Reform Act signed Tuesday makes it so no one else has to. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a suite of justice reform bills into law Tuesday that will make it easier for long-serving inmates to apply for parole, make age and illness a factor in parole considerations and streamline the process for people seeking to expunge their records after serving their time. The bills, some of which advocates have been pushing for years, demonstrate what House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) called the legislature's ongoing efforts 'to create a more equitable criminal justice system' in state that 'incarcerates the highest percentage of Black people in the country.' 'So this year, we passed several bills to address these statistics, including the Second Look Act, the governor's Expungement Reform Act, and legislation to improve the mcdical parole process,' Jones said at Tuesday's bill-signing, the second since the end of the 2025 legislative session. Jones, Moore and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) signed 142 bills into law Tuesday. They also included a measure aimed at protecting federal workers from Trump administration budget cuts and another aimed at protecting the state from the potentially crushing financial burden of lawsuits brought by people who were abused as children while in state custody, after a then-hailed change state law made it easier to bring such suits. Moore touted Senate Bill 432, the Expungement Reform Act, which was part of his legislative agenda. Advocates say that criminal records can prevent people from getting jobs, loans or housing, no matter how long ago the crime was committed, but that the process expunging a criminal record can be cumbersome and sometimes impossible. Court likely next stop as overhaul of Child Victims Act is signed into law 'We know, that for too many Marylanders, their criminal record … is tied around their necks for the rest of life. They cannot get a loan, they cannot get a home, they cannot get hired and ofentimes it's because of an offense that they committed years, if not decades ago,' Moore said. 'We have got to confront this myth that every sentence needs to be a life sentence.' SB432 expands the current list of more than crimes for which a person may seek expungement to include credit card theft, making a false statement to police and driving without a license, among others. It also corrects a technicality that made parole violations count against the successful fulfillment of a person's sentence, effectively barring someone permanently from seeking expungment if they violated parole somewhere along the way. 'As soon as the bill becomes effective, I think you're going to see some impact,' said Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), a co-sponsor of the act. 'Right after the effective date, people that wouldn't have been helped the day before are going to be helped so, there's going to be immediate action.' Officials also signed into law measures aimed at giving people still serving time a shot at getting out on parole. Those measures were often the subject of emotional debate during the legislative session, and sometimes surprising personal stories from lawmakers talking about their own experiences as victims of crime. House Bill 853, the Second Look Act, would give people who have been incarcerated for at least 20 years the ability to petition for a sentence reduction if they met several other criteria. It would not be available to sex offenders, people sentenced to life without chance of parole, those who were older than 25 when they committed or those convicted of killing a first responder. The last criterion was one of a series of disqualifying crimes that opponents of the bill offered as amendments, all of which failed except for the first responder amendment. It as accepted by the Senate in the waning days of the legislative session, threatening to derail the bill, but the House accepted the change and gave final approval to the bill after years of trying by advocates. Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County) said at the time that she was not a fan of the amendment, but willing to accept to get the Second Look Act on the books. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'It's just a good and promising start,' Pasteur said after Tuesday's bill signing. She predicts that the bill will do more than help the incarcerated individuals who might have their sentences shortened, but will benefit communities as well. 'For those that come out, just think of how they can positively interact with the young people.' Critics had argued, some passionately, that allowing inmates to petition for a sentence reduction would deny justice to the victims, and force them to relive the crimes again years later. They argued that people who had committed particulary heinous crimes did not deserve a second chance. But supporters of the bill said repeatedly that it is not a 'get out of jail free' card, but just a chance to recognize inmates who have turned their lives around and might be able to contribute to society. The petitions are reviewed by judges in the courts that convicted an individual, and an incarcerated individual who is turned down would have to wait three years to reapply. Inmates would only be able to petition three times. Pasteur called the signing 'an incredible day' and said she has formed a committee to 'monitor … everybody that comes out under this bill' to measure its impact. Sydnor recognized the opposition to the bill, but said he believes it will be a positive overall. 'There are some people, I believe, may not see the utility in doing things like this. But I believe in grace and the Second Chance bill,' he said. He could not explain the sudden success of justice reform measures, some of which advocates have been pushing for years. 'A lot of work by a lot of people … No one legislator by his or herself,' he said, acknowledging lawmakers in the past who worked steadily on the measures.' This happened to be the year. everything came together, just people in the right places at the right time.' Also signed into law yesterday were House Bill 1123 and Senate Bill 181, which would require parole hearings for long-serving inmates over age 60 and for those with severe medical conditions. Almost lost in the rush of justice reform bills was House Bill 1424, the Protect Our Federal Workers Act, which was sponsored by Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George's) after the scale of budget and job cuts planned by President Donald Trump started to become evident. The bill would take a current state fund that has been used to help federal workers get over any hurdles from a temporary government shutdown, and would shift that into a new fund that would be used to help. federal workers who permanently lose their jobs because of administration budget cuttig. The Federal Government Employee Assistance Loan Fund would be buttressed with $5 million from the state's Rainy Day Fund. The bill als gives the Office of the Attorney General new authority to defend federal employees, or take legal action on their behalf because of federal government shutdowns, firings, office relocations or agency closures. With 160,000 federal government jobs in the state, and 260,000 federal workers living in the state, Moore said 'these are our people' and must be defended. His administration has said that weaning the state away from its reliance on the federal government is one of its economic goals. Jones said the bill would 'fight back against chaos and hostility caused by the Trump administration.' 'We knew from Day One that Donald Trump would be coming after our federal workers,' Jones said. 'We recognize that we might not be able to beat the federal government when it comes to job loss or funding cuts or immigration, but …. that doesn't mean that we are going to stop fighting. 'With that, let's protect Marylanders and let's sign these bills,' she said to applause.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court likely next stop as overhaul of Child Victims Act is signed into law
A bill that lowers damages for survivors of institutional sex abuse was one of more than 140 bills signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Tuesday. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) Lawyers representing men and women who were abused as children while in state custody said newly signed legislation will lead to court challenges and a wave of lawsuits over the next five weeks. Gov. Wes Moore (D) and legislative leaders on Tuesday signed House Bill 1378 into law, which will cut in half potential awards to victims that were promised just two years ago in legislation that was hailed for giving survivors another chance to have their day in court. But that led to claims by thousands of men and women who were sexually abused while in state custody, opening the door to potentially budget-crushing financial awards and sparking the rush to pass HB1378, which takes effect June 1. D. Todd Mathews, an attorney with Bailey & Glasser, said his firm would be part of a challenge to the new law. 'We will vigorously oppose this clearly unconstitutional bill, in order to protect the Survivors, as the State and Governor Moore have clearly failed them,' Mathews said in an email. Washington, D.C.-based Bailey & Glasser is one of nearly two dozen firms representing more than 4,500 plaintiffs. The coalition of firms has been in active negotiations with the Maryland Attorney General's office since 2023. Mathews and Ryan S. Perlin, an attorney at Baltimore-based Bekman, Marder, Hopper, Malarkey & Perlin, said the newly signed law could face several potential constitutional challenges. 'It's all but a certainty that this will be challenged,' Perlin said Tuesday morning. With a June 1 effective date, survivors have until May 31 to file a lawsuit under the old law, which caps damages at $1.5 million per occurrence for private institutions and $890,000 per occurrence against government entities. On June 1, those caps fall to $700,000 and $400,000, respectively. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Perlin said those reductions, as well as the five-week filing window, will likely be challenged, along with the difference in how the law treats lawsuits against private and public institutions. The bill also caps the fees that can be paid to attorneys representing survivors. 'That will have a chilling effect, making it harder for survivors to find a lawyer who will represent them,' said Perlin, whose firm announced last week that it had filed a new group of lawsuits against Towson-based Calvert Hall College High School under the current law The bill was one of 142 signed into law at the second ceremony following the 2025 session. That second tranche of new laws included bills affecting expungement of criminal records, the Second Look Act and legislation to aid federal workers whose jobs have been eliminated by President Donald Trump. Moore did not comment on the Child Victims Act changes during remarks delivered before the bill signing. When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the office repeated a statement from last week, that 'acknowledged the trauma' survivors have faced, but said the bill would 'continue to allow the survivors to seek justice while preserving the long-term fiscal stability of the state.'' Lisae Jordan, executive director and counsel at Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said she hoped the state would make more services available to people who were abused in state facilities. 'House Bill 1378 will save the state a lot of money, but it remains to be seen whether some of the savings will be used to help prevent future abuse or to provide services for survivors who can't prove their case in court,' Jordan said in an email. 'Helping people who were sexually abused while in state custody doesn't require a lawsuit, but it will require more resources.' The muted comment at Tuesday's signing was a vastly different affair than two years ago when Moore praised passage of the Child Victims Act and throngs of survivors traveled to Annapolis for the bill signing. That 2023 law eliminated time restrictions during which survivors of institutional sexual abuse had to file lawsuits. It also set the $1.5 million and $890,000 caps on awards per 'occurrence' of abuse — a term over which plaintiff's attorneys and some lawmakers disagree. At the time, the focus was on the substantial number of cases expected to arise out of the Catholic church sex abuse scandal, and the Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy protection in advance of the 2023 law taking effect. At the same time, hundreds of cases against the state, including the Department of Juvenile Services, began to surface. Lawmakers were warned in January of billions in potential liabilities from an estimated 3,500 cases. Those alone would have dire budgetary consequences. Since then, a coalition of attorneys has said they have nearly 6,000 cases. And those cases are believed to be just the start. Two weeks ago, Levy Konigsberg, a New York-based law firm that is part of the coalition, filed lawsuits on behalf of 221 men and women in connection with sexual abuse allegations at 15 state juvenile detention facilities. The lawsuits bring the number of claims handled by Levy Konigsberg alone to roughly 2,000, according to the firm. Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles), who sponsored the 2023 bill, stepped in to author the changes in HB1378, which he called an attempt to ease the potential financial burden to the state while giving survivors the opportunity to seek justice. 'This bill does nothing to change the amounts [government] is going to pay out,' said Perlin, who said lawyers will rush 'thousands of cases' to the courthouses in the next five weeks in order to come in under the current, higher caps. That rush of cases could potentially slow the judicial system and its existing workload of criminal and civil cases to a crawl. It is likely that victims' claims and legal challenges to the new law will move simultaneously. Lawyers could seek a temporary injunction before the end of May, to put the law on hold while courts determine its constitutionality; or attorneys representing the survivors could hold off on a challenge until June 1, when the new law takes effect. A third scenario would bring a challenge to the law after survivors start appealing the resolution of individual cases, according to Perlin. Mathews agreed, adding that scenario could take years to resolve.
