Maryland
7/01/07
Maryland legislative update
FAMMGram, summer 2007
5/18/07
Maryland governor delivers disappointment by vetoing sentencing reform bill
Supporters of sentencing justice in Maryland were dealt a disappointing blow yesterday when Governor Martin O' Malley vetoed a bill that would have provided the possibility of parole for nonviolent drug offenders. The sentencing reform bill, HB 992, was one of the only bills vetoed by O'Malley, despite its support from the legislature, the Coalition for Treatment Not Incarceration (of which FAMM is a part) and the editorial pages of the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun.
Although the outcome was not what was hoped for, the hard work that went into this bill was inspiring. FAMM commends the legislators, families and advocates who shepherded the bill through the legislative process and got it to the governor's desk.
"The veto is a disappointing mistake," said Justice Policy Institute executive director Jason Ziedenberg. "Instead of taking a baby step in the right direction towards treatment instead of prison, O'Malley is stubbornly clinging to the failed tough on crime policies of the past. The governor failed to show leadership and vision in this decision."
Under the comparatively modest Maryland reform, individuals convicted of a 10-year sentence for a nonviolent drug offense would have been eligible for, but not guaranteed, parole. Individuals convicted of violent crimes would serve the full 10-year sentences.
"The fight for more effective and fair sentencing policies isn’t over," said Delegate Curtis Anderson (D-Baltimore), a sponsor of the legislation. "Maryland voters want more fair and effective sentencing policies. We will keep working with the Governor to implement those reforms."
FAMM will continue to work with the Coalition for Treatment Not Incarceration to further sentencing reform in Maryland.
10/30/06
New Fact Sheet from The Justice Policy Institute
To help Maryland citizens put the recent television and web-based campaign advertisements by candidates for Maryland governor into context, The Justice Policy Institute has prepared the following fact sheet:
Maryland's Election Crime Ads in Context - Fact Sheet
5/31/06
Treatment funding up
The Campaign for Treatment Not Incarceration helped secure a slight increase in funding for drug treatment, primarily long-term residential services during the recent legislature session. Maryland lawmakers, however, still have not returned sentencing discretion to judges in drug cases or fully embraced effective alternatives to incarceration.
Now in its fourth year, the campaign is gaining exposure and new allies, including the 2nd Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, comprised more than 300 congregations. Over 500 people have sign resolutions supporting increased drug treatment funding and sentencing discretion for judges. FAMM is a member of the campaign.
1/3/05
Good time victory in Maryland
On December 29, 2004, a district court judge in Maryland issued his opinion in Johnson et al. v. Dewalt, 04-3414. He determined that the statute that entitles federal prisoners to earn up to 54 days per year of good conduct credit clearly directs the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to apply the credit based on the entire sentence. He ruled against the Bureau of Prisons' practice of awarding the credit based not on the imposed sentence, but on the time a prisoner has served. This distinction has cost thousands of prisoners 7 days for every year they are sentenced.
The court stayed its ruling however to await a federal appeals court's consideration of the same issue. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to grant oral argument in Yi v. Brooks, No. 04-6891. Courts of appeals in the Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits have ruled for the government in these so-called "good time" cases and appeals are pending in the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Circuits.
Congratulations to Sarah Gannett who represents the petitioners on behalf of the Federal Public Defender of Maryland. You can read the opinion here.