Maryland Republicans say they’ll focus on public safety, reversing criminal justice reforms during 2024 session

Republican lawmakers in Maryland, decrying years of criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing the number of incarcerated children and adults, said Tuesday they will focus their efforts in the upcoming General Assembly session on reversing some of those reforms amid heightened concerns about crime.

Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey said his GOP colleagues are “pleading” with Democrats who control both chambers of the legislature to make public safety their top priority when lawmakers begin their annual 90-day session in January.

The package of legislation he and others said they’ll introduce would roll back parts of laws passed in recent years, such as protections around police interrogation of children and prohibitions against vehicle searches based solely on the odor of cannabis.

It would also set lawmakers up to rehash previous debates around increasing penalties for certain crimes and making it more difficult for those convicted to be released.

“It’s time to return balance to our public safety policy priorities and protect innocent Marylanders,” Hershey said alongside other leaders and rank-and-file Republicans in Annapolis. “The crime we’re seeing in our communities is not anecdotal, nor media-manufactured. It is real. The violence is real. The victims are real.”

One bill, which they called the Juvenile Justice Restoration Act, would target laws passed in 2022 designed to protect kids when dealing with law enforcement. Those reforms included limiting the charges kids under the age of 13 can face. They also required that minors speak to an attorney before deciding whether to answer questions during a police interrogation.

Prosecutors including Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates have criticized the changes this year as they’ve been implemented, saying they are hampering investigations into youth crime.

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Democratic Del. Luke Clippinger, has also held two of three planned hearings in which lawmakers have been open to investigating the impact of the new laws but have not indicated they would repeal any parts of them.

The GOP plan announced Tuesday would eliminate the requirement for consulting with an attorney and instead allow parents to give consent for their children to be questioned. It would also require kids under the age of 13 who use firearms to commit a crime to be referred to the juvenile justice system.

Del. Jesse Pippy, a Frederick County Republican who serves in leadership as House minority whip, acknowledged youth crime overall is down compared to before the pandemic but that certain crimes — like carjackings, car thefts and handgun violations — are up significantly.

“This is not about demonizing and incarcerating juveniles. It is about protecting them and protecting our communities,” Pippy said.

Republicans’ plans do not call for increased funding or other resources for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services to better serve youth in its system, though House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said they would not oppose potential requests from Democratic Gov. Wes Moore for more resources.

Another reversal requested by Republicans will be a law passed this year to prohibit police from using the odor of marijuana as the sole reason to search a vehicle. Recreational cannabis became legal July 1 in Maryland, though using it in vehicles or public places is not allowed.

“By rushing to pass this legislation, the General Assembly put our citizens at risk,” Pippy said of the bill passed along party lines last-minute at the end of the 2023 session.

Other elements of the Republicans’ plans are new iterations of their bills that have repeatedly come up short in recent years. Even while former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan was in office until earlier this year, Democrats who make up supermajorities of both the House and Senate overturned his vetoes on progressive criminal justice issues, including the Child Interrogation Protection Act.

Moore has talked often about prioritizing public safety, mostly by increasing resources for the Department of Juvenile Services and other law enforcement agencies, and by focusing on long-term prevention strategies.

While he has not yet introduced specific legislative priorities for the 2024 session, Moore has also signaled he would be interested in changes to the law — including after the September killing of Baltimore entrepreneur Pava LaPere.

Jason Billingsley, the man charged with murdering LaPere and other crimes, was sentenced in 2015 to 30 years in prison for a first-degree sex offense, with all but 14 years suspended. He was released in October 2022 after earning diminution credits, which accrue during prison based on the nature of the offense.

Buckel referred to Billingsley and LaPere’s death as he announced plans for Republicans to introduce the Safe Communities Act. He said it would eliminate the ability for those convicted of first- or second-degree murder from acquiring diminution credits, sometimes called “good time” credits. The bill would also cap the credits for other violent crimes to allow a reduction of no more than 10% of a sentence.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has described the credits as a “key tool for modifying inmate behavior” because they work as an incentive to participate in rehabilitative and work programs, including for those convicted of murder, according to an analysis by legislative staff earlier this year.

Buckel said most offenders should still be able to receive some credits, “but not to make a farce out of their actual criminal consequences.”

“The doors of the courthouse and the jail should not be revolving ones, not when we’re talking about serious repeat violent criminal offenders,” Buckel said.

A similar GOP-sponsored bill failed earlier this year.

So did two other proposals Republicans said they would revive — a Violent Firearms Offenders Act to increase penalties for crimes using illegal firearms, from three to five years and a maximum fine of $2,500 to $10,000; and a Gun Theft Felony Act, which would make the theft of a firearm a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

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