One group says Governor Larry Hogan’s plan to impose mandatory minimum sentencing would not only fail at deterring crime but increase racial disparities.
This all stems from proposed House Bills 100, 101, 102 and Senate Bills 197, 198, 199.
Bills that, according to the group, would increase the jail population.
The ACLU, the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, along with state delegates Mary Washington and Carlo Sanchez say the bills destroy families and communities and are fundamentally unfair.
One of the bills calls for those convicted of violent crimes to serve a non-parole ten years in prison.
Neill Franklin, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership Executive Director, says passing the bills would be a setback.
“If you don’t know how the United States became the world’s number one incarcerator – this is it. These policies are those examples of how we got here, in the land of the free of all places,” Franklin said.
The group says the point of these bills should be to get ‘smart on crime.’
Amelia Chasse, the Deputy Communications Director for the Office of the Governor, added that since taking office Governor Larry Hogan has taken action to bring balance to Maryland's criminal justice system by prioritizing the prosecution of repeat violent offenders and implementing reforms.
"The governor’s legislation targets repeat violent offenders and violent criminal gang enterprises threatening the lives of ordinary citizens across the state. Unlike the previous administration’s indiscriminate mass incarceration practices, Governor Hogan’s proposals will get repeat violent criminals off our streets while adding resources to help nonviolent offenders get a second chance," said Amelia Chasse.
The plans on hearing the bills starting next Tuesday.
