ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Opponents say the juvenile justice reform bill goes too far, isn't evidence based and will disproportionately impact Black and Brown kids.
"For me, the bill is completely uncivilized, to cage children as young as 10-years-old," said Zakiya Sankara-Jabar with Racial Justice Now!
Both chambers passed slightly different versions of the bill.
Leaders from the House and Senate are hashing out the differences.
"I know there's been a lot of focus on this 10, 11 and 12, these feel the worst because you don't want a 12-year-old engaging in car theft. This is an incredibly incredibly small population that we are talking about here and we want to get this right for that very small population, that is the challenge," said Senate President Bill Ferguson.
Opponents to the bill are asking Gov. Wes Moore to veto the bill if it gets to his desk.
"We are going to demand that Gov. Wes Moore reject and veto this bill that will widen mass incarceration literally to 10-year-old babies and most of them will be Black and to be honest, most of them will be Black boys," said Sankara-Jabara.
The bill has bipartisan support.
Between both chambers, only eight lawmakers voted against it.
Gov. Moore was also at the announcement of the legislation back in January supporting it.
While the opponents make their effort to stop the bill, with just 26 days left in the session and the massive amount of support the legislation has, the group faces an uphill battle.
