Maryland is second only to Alabama in the rate at which it sends children to adult court for criminal prosecution. On July 20, 2021, The Sentencing Project’s Marcy Mistrett testified before the Maryland Juvenile Justice Reform Council (JJRC) on national trends in charging children as adults and why it’s imperative children are treated as children. The Sentencing Project strongly encourages the JJRC to adopt recommendations [based on research and public safety] that will ensure all children start in juvenile court, and that cases are reviewed on an individual basis by a judge before determining they should be sent to adult court.
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publications
February 09, 2022
State Action to Narrow the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Thanks to a $122 billion infusion of federal funds for public education included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan, schools and communities have the opportunity to invest vast resources in effective new approaches to close the school-to-prison pipeline. The Sentencing Project has examined the plans submitted by every state for use of these federal funds.
publications
January 26, 2022
Testimony in Support of Maryland Bill to End Automatic Transfer of Youth to Adult Court
Josh Rovner
The Sentencing Project offered expert testimony in support of Maryland's SB165, a bill to end the automatic charging of Maryland’s youth as if they were adults.
