Issue Position: Criminal Justice

Issue Position

Following the deaths of several, unarmed African Americans in police encounters over the past two years, trust in our law enforcement officers has been damaged.

To work to build stronger relationships between communities and police officers, I sponsored and passed legislation in 2015 to increase police accountability and transparency. My legislation made Maryland one of the first states in the country to require full, comprehensive reporting data on all civilian deaths in police encounters. According to a Washington Post article on this initiative, the bill will "create a uniform way of counting how many people die during interactions with police and make it easier to spot problems and identify trends."

Over the past several years, I have also been proud to support reforms to our incarceration system in Maryland. Over 50% of Maryland prisoners were sentenced for non-violent offenses and time served by those prisoners has increased by 23% over the last decade. These statistics run contrary to research that demonstrates that incarceration for non-violent offenses and increased prison sentences only serve to increase recidivism rates.

To ensure that we prioritize rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders over incarceration, I strongly supported the Justice Reinvestment Act in 2016. This vital piece of legislation will focus prison beds on serious and violent offenders; address inefficiencies in parole and better prepare inmates to return to society; and establishes more effective supervision practices for parole and probation. These reforms are estimated to save the State tens of millions of dollars over the next several years.

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