WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed the Youth Charging Reform Act into law, according to a release from The Sentencing Project. The legislation followed years of harmful practices in Maryland that disproportionately affected Black youth.
Under the new law, teens younger than 18 will no longer be automatically charged as adults. Maryland policies have greatly affected youth in the state.
“In fact, per capita, Maryland has sent more young people to adult court based solely on an initial charge than almost any other state in the country, second only to Alabama.”
A policy brief from The Sentencing Project highlights the problematic nature of “auto-charging” youth and what it means for communities if youth continue to be charged as adults.
Twenty-eight states, plus the District of Columbia, have automatic charging provisions within their systems. Moreover, the juvenile court system was created because there are differences between youth and adults when it comes to crimes being committed.
The Sentencing Project believes that automatically charging adolescents as adults does more harm than good.
If youth are charged as adults, they are more likely to reoffend when they become adults. In addition, they are also more likely to commit more violent offenses, the release highlights.
Research highlights the detrimental effects of placing juveniles in adult prisons.
Youth incarcerated in adult prisons do not have access to the resources juvenile services provide, including rehabilitation, mental health programs and other support services designed to aid youth as they grow.
Juvenile court judges are better positioned to understand what youth may need for support.
Another detrimental effect is that youth in prison are exposed to harm while incarcerated.
The Sentencing Project argues that “any period” in adult incarceration places youth “at an increased risk of physical and sexual abuse and negative mental health impacts.”
Some states have laws and policies in place to stop automatically charging youth as adults. These states include California, Virginia and Kansas.
California passed a law stating that 14- and 15-year-olds cannot be tried as adults. In Virginia, only certain crimes allow youth to be tried as adults. Lastly, Kansas enacted a youth reform bill.
Therefore, the Sentencing Project sees it as a huge milestone for Maryland to pass this reform act since the state has one of the highest rates of youth being sent to adult courts, despite the controversy surrounding the bill.
However, The Sentencing Project also notes that there is still more work to do when it comes to youth being charged as adults.
They argue that additional reforms are needed to ensure meaningful change in the juvenile justice system.
The systems, they explain, were designed in ways that disproportionately harm certain groups of people. They state the system “falls hardest on Black youth who made up 80% of those charged in adult court.”
While the law is seen as a major step forward for Maryland, which has the highest per-capita rate of charging youth as adults, there is still more work to be done, but the law gives the state an opportunity to begin addressing the issue and moving in the right direction.
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