ANNAPOLIS, Md. — When we learned that Jason Billingsley, the man accused of murdering Pava LaPere in September, and allegedly committing attempted murder, rape, and arson just a few days before that, had been let out of prison early less than a year before, without a parole board even reviewing his release, lawmakers pledged to take action.
Enter this house bill, called the Pava Marie LaPere Act. It’s goal is to prevent the automatic early release of violent sex offenders, and would have prevented Jason Billingsley from being released in 2022 after serving 7 years for a 2015 sex assault.
The bill addresses the diminution credit system. Also called "good time credits," inmates earn these credits for good behavior, and participation in education and programming.
“And if you earn those credits, you're released automatically, as soon as you earn enough. The calculations vary depending on the crime, but there's zero discretion involved in the release,” explained Delegate Elizabeth Embry, the sponsor of the bill.
If it passes, inmates serving time for rape, or a violent sex offense, would not be eligible for dimunition credits. But the bill does not include people convicted for murder. Under current law, those inmates can still shave time off their sentence by earning diminution credits, and can get released automatically if they earn enough.
We asked State's Attorney Ivan Bates, who testified yesterday in support of the bill, why first and second-degree murder was not included. He believes there’s a distinction between people who commit murder and people who commit a violent sex offense.
“This is an individual that’s been convicted of a very heinous, violent crime. Murder could be impulse control - I’m angry, I’m upset, boom, I pull the trigger. But when you look at the first-degree rape, the things that go into it, the natural actions that that perpetrator does not only to himself and to the victim, but what must go through their mind at that moment in time, Bates said during his testimony at the House Judiciary Committee hearing for the Pava Marie LaPere Act.
“That was probably the silliest thing I've heard him say in the couple years I've been around him," Republican House Minority Leader, Jason Buckel said. "First-degree murder is not murder by accident. First-degree murder generally involves pre-meditated murder. I said I was going to kill you, I planned to kill you, I killed you."
So, Buckel put forth his own bill; the “Safe Communities Act" is also cross-filed in the Senate. Senator Johnny Salling, who represents Baltimore County, is a sponsor on that side.
“First and second degree murder [convicts] - are eligible to receive diminution credits. So we want that to literally cease. There are also serious crimes/offenses that we also want to get in, too," Salling said.
For those additional violent crimes and sex offenses, the bill says inmates would not be allowed to deduct more than 10% of their sentence using diminution credits.
Currently, the only inmates in Maryland who can't earn diminution credits are inmates imprisoned for a lifetime sexual offender supervision violation, and inmates convicted of rape or sexual assault against a victim under the age of 16.
“So it's okay if you murder a child, you get dimunition credits. But if you commit sexual assault against them, you don't. That doesn't make any sense,” Buckel said. "I think it's ridiculous to say we're gonna allow first and second-degree murderers to have diminution credits and get out of jail early. They can apply for the parole process. The parole board, the governor, all these other avenues exist for them to come in and prove, I'm rehabilitated, I'm safe, please let me out. But the prison system and our legislative system shouldn't automatically release them just based on some crazy mathematical formula.”
In explaining why the Pava Marie LaPere Act doesn’t address first-degree murderers earning diminution credits, State’s Attorney Bates said he also believes it’s more difficult to rehabilitate violent sex offenders. And he said, inmates serving time for murder are going to be serving much longer sentences anyway, so taking away any hope that they could reduce their sentence, would discourage positive behavior in prison.
“For rehabilitation, to make sure you keep your officers safe, and everybody safe inside, there must be some hope, and giving individuals who have committed first-degree murder that opportunity to have the hope to one day be released,” he told WMAR-2 News.
During yesterday’s hearing, lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee also heard from those in opposition of eliminating diminution credits, saying it would remove any incentive for inmates to rehabilitate themselves while in prison.
“That person is going to be released regardless of whether they do absolutely nothing while they're in prison, or if they participate in programming or are required to participate in some type of programming. What I am suggesting is that rather than taking away diminution credits, there should be the opportunity or the requirement that people participate in programming when they are in the prison and they are a captive audience. Fund the programming while they are there, particularly for those individuals who we know will return to the community at some point. Fund the programming while they are there, particularly for those individuals who we know will return to the community at some point,” Baltimore City District Public Defender Marguerite Lanaux said.
We asked Delegate Buckel and Senator Salling about that.
“I think for non-violent offenders, and for people who are really capable of rehabilitation, and the prison system has made an independent determination of that, there’s some value in diminution credits. Our bill doesn’t completely eliminate them at all,” Buckel said. “We’re not talking about small, low-level things. We’re talking about the worst of the worst, and those folks need to get serious penalties and punishments, and we think this bill and this policy change, will help make sure that people who could hurt you are in jail rather than walking the streets because we let them out early.”
“They put themselves in this position to be behind bars. I’m thinking about the victims. I believe in second chances, I really do. But at the same time, these violent crimes that do happen, most of the time it’s happened more than once. So we just want to make sure there’s accountability for that,” Senator Salling said.
Buckel pointed to Billingsley as an example of how the system lets people fall through the cracks.
"He wasn’t redeemed, he wasn’t rehabilitated. The system didn’t work. We didn’t incentivize him. Through his good behavior in prison he got 7 or 8 years off of his sentence, and within 11 months after being released, he had tied up another woman and her boyfriend, sexually assaulted them, and tried to burn them to death, and then broke into this poor young lady’s apartment, raped and murdered her. Did the system work? Was he incentivized because he was a good boy in prison because he got all these years off his sentence? Nope. And I think that happens many, many times. It’s not documented a lot, but it happens quite frequently,” Buckel said.
