The Maryland General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session begins in Annapolis on Wednesday, both sides of the aisle say that juvenile crime and changing justice reforms is a top priority.
MoCo360 reached out to Maryland decision-makers on both sides of the political divide. Democrats say that only minor tweaks to clarify the 2022 Juvenile Justice Reform Act are necessary, but Republicans said that some parts of the law need to be completely rolled back.
This issue is coming under scrutiny now because of a report released by Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services in September about how violent juvenile crimes have increased in recent years in Maryland. Montgomery County is no exception to those trends.
In Montgomery County, juvenile-related violent crime increased 95% since 2019, and robbery, specifically, increased 108%, according to county police. Note: The 2023 data only goes through Oct. 31, 2023.
Statewide, between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2023, among juveniles: gun violations rose 220%, carjackings spiked 85%, and auto theft complaints increased 65%, according to the state’s Department of Juvenile Services (DJS).
Non-violent felony complaints in the state increased around 70% over fiscal year 2022 and were 26% higher than fiscal year 2020, according to DJS.
“The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2022 has been the greatest contributor to the increase in juvenile crime we are experiencing throughout the state,” Sen. Will Folden (R-Dist. 4) said in an email statement.
Sen. William Smith (D-Dist. 20) disagrees.
“The bill that we passed last year did not unleash this violent crime spree,” Smith said in a phone interview.
The 2022 Juvenile Justice Reform Act made it so that fewer juveniles would be charged with crimes, placed in detention centers and receive long probations. The overall goal was to keep juveniles out of the judicial process and justice system as much as possible, according to Maryland’s General Assembly.
One of the biggest changes: children younger than 13 can only be charged with offenses that are considered crimes of violence, which include murder, rape, first-degree assault, carjacking and abduction.
This change was pushed into public discourse after a 12-year-old was found responsible for bomb threats at multiple Montgomery County Public Schools in October and could not be charged. Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said that the individual knew they could not be punished.
“It is disheartening to accept that the individual responsible for disrupting the educational process and instilling fear in our community was well aware of the legal limitations surrounding their age,” Jones said in a statement. “They understood that they could not be charged under current Maryland statutes.”
Also in 2022, the Child Interrogation Protection Act was passed, establishing more stringent requirements for law enforcement prior to and during a custodial interrogation of a juvenile.
Smith chairs the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee, which includes Folden as a member.
Folden is the lead Senate sponsor of the Juvenile Justice Restoration Act, which is
“a joint Republican Caucus priority bill that seeks to right the recent wrongs of new juvenile justice laws that have made it nearly impossible to ensure that there are appropriate consequences for young offenders,” he said.
House Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said in November that recent laws made it “tougher to penalize juvenile offenders,” and House Minority Whip Del. Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick) said that “new juvenile justice laws…have made it nearly impossible to ensure that there are appropriate consequences for young offenders,” according to Maryland Matters. Buckel did not respond to MoCo360’s email requests for comment.
Some changes that Folden would like to make under the Juvenile Justice Restoration Act:
- Instead of requiring an attorney to be present for a juvenile’s questioning, all that would be needed is parental consent for the questioning to take place.
- Individuals under the age of 13 who use firearms in the commission of a crime can be charged in the juvenile court system.
- Upon a juvenile’s third arrest for a crime that does not fall within the category of “crimes of violence,” or a crime committed with a firearm, they will be charged under the juvenile court system.
Instead of an overhaul, House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger (D-Dist. 46) said that legislators may need to “nip and tuck” current juvenile justice laws, according to the Baltimore Banner. Clippinger did not respond to MoCo360’s email requests for comment.
Smith agrees that the provision regarding what children younger than 13 can be charged for needs to be looked at, but that only a minor change is needed. He told MoCo360 that the definition of “crimes of violence” should be broadened to include crimes such as 2nd degree assaults or 3rd degree sex offenses.
Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee met on Oct. 30 to discuss juvenile crime and justice reforms
Montgomery County also has made this a significant topic of discussion recently. In a press conference the day after the Oct. 30 meeting, Jones clarified some misconceptions about local government and law enforcement.
“We have been accused of simply wanting to arrest juveniles as a way of solving the problems of our society. We know that doesn’t work. It’s never worked. But what has worked is intervention and diversion,” Jones said.
County Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), who is a member of the Public Safety committee, said she agreed with Jones and doubled down on the idea that intervention is key.
“While arresting juveniles is a poor strategy for making our community safer so is releasing them without connecting them to services and accountability measures,” Mink said in an email to MoCo360. “This is why police are seeing the same young people committing the same crimes over and over again.”
She continued, saying that while it is important to try to keep youth out of the criminal justice system, it is also just as important to “direct them into proven, community-based diversion programs.”
According to Smith, an example of an intervention that can be effective, but isn’t utilized properly is the Children in Need of Supervision (CINS) program. If a CINS complaint is filed, then a child or teen under age 18 can be placed under community supervision, placed in a residential treatment program or their family can be subject to community-based services, interventions, or contracted programs.
Smith said that police often do not know how to properly assign a child in need of supervision to the DJS, and even if referred, the DJS does not always implement it properly, partially due to a lack of resources.
“The whole process is kind of messed up, and I think what we need to do is improve that so that the kids actually have the access to the services that they need,” Smith said.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said that he has been following the discourse in the General Assembly and that public safety is a huge priority for his administration.
“We will be introducing our own package of bills that focus on public safety, but I also know the legislature is going to be hard at work making some adjustments to the laws that were passed before I became governor, and I’m looking forward to those adjustments,” Moore said in a press conference in December.
The General Assembly’s legislative session begins Wednesday and will last until April 8.