Maryland

Public defender, advocates push for Maryland to end automatic charging of youths as adults – Maryland Matters

Published

1 year ago

January 16, 2025

Public defender, advocates push for Maryland to end automatic charging of youths as adults – Maryland Matters

Jabriera Handy was just 16 when she left the house one day after arguing with her grandmother about pictures hanging on the wall. When her 69-year-old grandmother suffered a fatal heart attack several hours later, Jabiera was charged with second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault in the death.

Despite her age, the charges automatically made her an adult in the eyes of Maryland law. She was charged as an adult and said she spent 11 months in the Baltimore detention center, including at least 30 days in solitary confinement, before accepting a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter and being transferred into a juvenile system program for six to eight months.

But the stress of that time still lives with Handy, now 33, who said she still has anxiety when in large crowds because of it.

“When you are in adult prison, you are treated as an adult,” said Handy, now the mother of an 11-year-old daughter. “What we want is for every child to start in juvenile court … to give them a chance at receiving valuable services to become productive. Let’s vote to end the prosecution of youth as adults.”

Legislation to end the practice of charging youths as adults is a priority of the Office of the Public Defender, which is scheduled to outline its legislative agenda Thursday during a rally at Lawyers’ Mall in Annapolis.

It’s also among 18 recommendation scheduled to be released in a report this month by the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative, which Public Defender Natasha Dartigue and Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) serve as co-chairs.

According to the public defender’s office, Maryland ranked second behind Alabama in automatically sending teenagers aged 14 to 17 to adult court. The office notes that in 2022, about 12% of teenagers tried as adults were convicted.

Cheltenham Youth Detention Center in Prince George’s County. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)

“All 871 teens automatically charged as adults faced lengthy and expensive processes to decide if their cases would stay in adult court, with average wait times 103 days longer than those in the juvenile system,” according to the public defender. “This is inefficient and results in backlogs and wasted resources of Maryland’s courts, Department of Juvenile Services, public defenders, and prosecutors.”

The office says that ending the practice of automatically charging children as adults could free up an estimated $20 million for juvenile services to invest in community resources.

“If we are ever going to evolve into a system that is just and fair, we have to start with the basic premise of treating children as children,” Dartigue said Monday, after the collaborative’s youth justice work group event on the campus of the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center in Prince George’s County. “The practice of charging children as adults goes contrary to science, goes contrary to the data, goes contrary to the basic premise that they are children.”

But the advocates are making their pitch less than a year after lawmakers passed a juvenile justice reform bill that tightened juvenile justice, and made children as young as 10 subject to Department of Juvenile Services jurisdiction, amid fears of youth crime. Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, director of education policy and activism with the Wayfinder Foundation, remains frustrated at the passed of House Bill 814, which was signed into law in May.

“I hope they [legislators] have more courage this year than they did last year,” said Sankara-Jabar, a Montgomery County resident whose teenage son was in DJS custody for about two months after being charged with armed robbery while with other youths for allegedly attacking a pizza delivery person.

“I think we should be focusing on prevention,” she said. “Just shouldn’t be charging kids as adults [when] they’re not.”

Other priorities

The public defender’s office has three other priorities on its legislative agenda: reforming the state’s parole system to include medical and geriatric parole, funding indigent defense and making traffic stops safer.

Sen. Charles Sydnor III and Del. N. Scott Phillips, both Baltimore County Democrats, will sponsor the traffic stops legislation, which is likely to be opposed by the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association, among others.

Sydnor’s SB 292 proposes to downgrade a number of current primary violations, which allow police to pull a person over, to secondary status, which cannot be the sole reason an officer stops a driver for a nonsafety-related traffic stop. As of Wednesday evening, a House version had not been posted online.

Companion bills have been filed on medical and geriatric parole by Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County) and Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), a bill supporters have been trying to pass since 2022. This year, SB 181 and HB 190 would apply to an incarcerated individual who is 60 years old, has served as least 15 years and is not registered as a sex offender.

For medical parole, a medical professional would have to determine if the incarcerated individual is “chronically debilitated or incapacitated” or has “a disease or condition with an end-of-life trajectory.” Certain conditions would include dementia or a severe or permanent medical or cognitive disability that prevents the person “from completing more than one activity or daily living.”

A hearing on Hettleman’s bill is set for Jan. 28 before the Judicial Proceedings Committee. As of Wednesday, no hearing had been scheduled for Bartlett’s version of the bill before the Judiciary Committee.

During a visit last week to the General Assembly, Brown said he supports the proposal for medical and geriatric parole.

The final priority for the public defender’s office deals funding for legal defense for indigents, to make sure someone who cannot afford to hire an attorney can still get one.

“We know that if we want to build stronger families and communities, we must first dismantle the barriers that keep our people trapped in cycles of disproportionate incarceration,” Chrissy M. Thornton, president and CEO of Associated Black Charities, said in a statement Monday. “You cannot claim to care about equity and justice while underfunding the very agencies that defend the most vulnerable among us.”

Source link

Click to comment

Maryland

Road condition, traffic congestion in Md. costs drivers thousands, report finds – WTOP News

Published

1 hour ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Road condition, traffic congestion in Md. costs drivers thousands, report finds – WTOP News

A new report by the transportation nonprofit TRIPS found the condition of the roads in Maryland’s D.C. suburbs is costing residents over $3,500 annually.

A new report found the condition of the roads in Maryland’s D.C. suburbs is costing residents over $3,500 annually.

This includes increased wear and tear on vehicles as well as depreciation, wasted fuel, wasted time and the cost of traffic accidents.

Rocky Moretti is the director of development and research at TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit. During a news conference Wednesday, he said the average driver in Maryland’s D.C. suburbs is spending an additional 90 hours per year stuck in traffic and wasting an additional 26 gallons of gas.

Statewide, 30% of Maryland roads are in “poor” condition, which Moretti said is significantly higher than the national average. The D.C. suburbs fare somewhat better, with 27% in poor condition, according to TRIP. Another 24% of Maryland’s roads in D.C. suburbs are rated in “mediocre” condition, compared with 21% statewide, the report found.

“I’m sad to say, you know, a lot of that stuff just rings true with me. For a long time, I was a local commissioner back about 20 years ago, in the early 2000s. And we were constantly wrestling with the need to put more money in our traffic infrastructure and just struggling to find the funding for that, as we saw state and federal dollars continue to drop,” said Jim Kercheval, executive director of the greater Hagerstown committee.

The report said the federal transportation program that was last reauthorized in 2021 was a significant boost to Maryland, increasing federal funding for roadways by 29%. Highway construction inflation since that bill was passed, however, has increased 47%. At the same time, the state is seeing decreasing revenues from gas taxes because of electric and more fuel efficient vehicles.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

Source link

Maryland

Irish heritage and history run deep in Maryland. Now to celebrate it.

Published

13 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Irish heritage and history run deep in Maryland. Now to celebrate it.

The Delmarva Peninsula, particularly Maryland, has deep historical ties to Irish immigrants.
Ocean City celebrates this heritage with one of the Eastern Shore’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parades.
Irish immigrants played a significant role in building American infrastructure, such as the B&O Railroad.

The Delmarva Peninsula is no strange to Irish heritage and history.

Now, ahead of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, 2026, here’s a closer look at just how that rich Irish history has shaped Delmarva and one of its most popular resort towns.

Irish immigrants helped shape Maryland infrastructure

The state of Maryland, in particular, has deep historical ties to Irish immigrants.

According to the Delmarva Irish-American Club, thousands of Irish immigrants arrived through the Port of Baltimore seeking refuge amid the Irish Potato Famine during the 1840s and 1850s. Together, the immigrants built railroads, dug canals, and formed tight-knit communities in areas such as Locust Point and Fell’s Point in Baltimore.

Irish immigrants also played a big part in early American infrastructure in Maryland.

Throughout the 19th century, countless Irish immigrants helped construct portions of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, the oldest railroad ever to be built in the United States. Even Delmarva Irish-American Club Vice President John R. O’Brien’s great grandfather was a stone mason on the second half of the Washington Monument.

In what ways does Ocean City celebrate Irish culture?

Ocean City, Maryland’s first ever St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place in 1980. Since then, the parade and accompanying festival have grown into one of the Eastern Shore’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Following the influx of Irish immigration during the 1840s and 1850s, many individuals of Irish descent began to settle throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region. Now, that heritage is reflected in local organizations, churches, music traditions and community-wide events such as Ocean City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration will take place on Saturday, March 14, 2026. The procession will begin at noon at 57th Street on Coastal Highway, marching south to the 45th Street Shopping Center.

How can people honor their Irish heritage at home?

There are many ways people of all ages can honor their Irish heritage and history alongside friends and family at home.

A few Irish-centered activities include:

Listening to traditional Irish folk music
Baking Irish soda bread or stew
Learning about family genealogy
Reading Irish literature and mythology
Sharing Irish stories and folklore with children
Decorating with Celtic symbols and shamrocks

Fun Irish phrases such as “Sláinte” (meaning cheers or good health), “Céad míle fáilte” (meaning a hundred thousand welcomes), and the Irish blessing “May the road rise to meet you,” can also be incorporated into daily vocabulary.

What is the Delmarva Irish-American Club?

The Delmarva Irish-American Club was founded in 1980 by a small group of friends with the vision of celebrating the Feast Day of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, with a grand parade.

The club’s first membership drive resulted in 75 members. Today, there are nearly 300. The club is open to anyone who is Irish, of Irish descent, or likes all things Irish, Delmarva Now previously reported.

The Delmarva Irish-American Club — a 501(c)(3) social organization — is an all-volunteer, local charity that works year-round to celebrate and preserve Irish history and culture on the Eastern Shore.

“Our goal is to celebrate Irish heritage and share those traditions with the broader community while keeping them alive for the next generation,” Vice President John R. O’Brien shared.

The club is largely responsible for the Ocean City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and also supports Irish music, dance and cultural events throughout the year. To learn more, visit www.delmarvairish.org.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

Source link

Maryland

Maryland parents push to hold drug dealers accountable in overdose deaths

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Maryland parents push to hold drug dealers accountable in overdose deaths

Parents who’ve lost their children to fentanyl overdoses went to Annapolis, Maryland Tuesday in search of accountability.

They want a new law that would hold drug dealers accountable when someone dies from an overdose. Their efforts have met strong opposition in the past, so this year, lawmakers are making changes.

Isis Flores held photos of her 16-year-old son, Yader, who died from a fentanyl overdose.
The Montgomery County mom pleaded with lawmakers to pass legislation that would hold drug dealers accountable when someone dies from an overdose.

“A mother who lost a child in 2022 to this horrible drug,” she said. “This is something horrible and that a child passed through — my son was one of them.”

Scott Broadfoot Sr. spoke through tears about his 21-year-old son, Scottie, who also died from an overdose. While prosecutors say there was a suspect in his son’s death, the person could not be charged under current Maryland law.

“Losing Scottie is a devastation unlike any other,” Broadfoot said. “The pain that follows, his passing, is something our family carries every day.”

These families are supporting a bill that would make distribution of heroin or fentanyl causing serious bodily injury or death a felony in Maryland. Supporters say it’s needed to hold people accountable for overdose deaths.

“We can’t bring these brothers, sisters, moms, dads back,” said Maryland Del. Chris Tomlinson, who represents Carroll and Frederick Counties. “But we can take this small step to keep this poison off the streets and hold drug dealers accountable for selling a lethal product that results in death of those we cherish the most.”

This is the third year in a row this legislation has been introduced, but because of the opposition, supporters have made changes. They’re hoping those changes will make a difference in getting it passed this year.

Among the concerns from opponents is the bill could punish those struggling with addiction who need help and treatment they won’t get through the prison system.

The biggest change supporters made to the bill is that a suspect must have a prior drug manufacturing or distribution conviction in order to face this new felony charge.

Supporters say dozens of other states already have similar laws.

“It is time that House Bill 1386, that this bill be passed so Maryland can join the vast majority of jurisdictions that already see the dangers of fentanyl and already have drug-induced homicide laws” said Stuart Welch with the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office.

In previous years, the bill has not come up for a vote. Supporters say they’ll keep coming back until the bill passes.

“How many lives must we lose?” Broadfoot said.

The maximum sentence for anyone convicted under this new law – if it passes – would be 20 years in prison.

Source link