Maryland tops states in decline of prison population

Maryland has surged to the front of a national trend of states reducing their prison populations, according to a new report by a nonprofit group that tracks criminal justice issues.

The Vera Institute of Justice said Friday that Maryland led the nation with a 9.6 percent drop in prison inmates in 2017. That is more than 2 percentage points greater than the decline registered in the secondranking states, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The decline means 1,916 fewer people are serving sentences in state-run correctional facilities — leaving a prison population of 18,078 at the end of last year.

The reduction appears to have been triggered in part by the 2016 Justice Reinvestment Act, a sweeping measure that sought to divert nonviolent offenders from prison to drug treatment and other programs.

“That bill in and of itself saved thousands of prosecutions,” said Sen. Bobby Zirkin, the Baltimore County Democrat whowasoneof its architects. “Clearly, treating drug addicts in the prison system makes no sense.”

Last year’s reduction was not a one-year fluke. Over the past decade, Maryland’s prison has dropped by almost 23 percent — fifth in the nation.

The report said the reduction, first reported by The Marshall Project news organization, is part of a national trend that brought the U.S. prison population last year below 1.5 million for the first time since 2004.

Jacob Kang-Brown, one of the study’s authors, said the move away from mass incarceration is a positive development.

“A lot of people think being tough on crime is pro-public safety,” he said. “We think being smart on crime is important. A big part of that is reducing the use of unnecessary incarceration.”

Stephen T. Moyer, Maryland’s Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said the decline leveled off early this year. But he expects the state prison population to continue to dwindle.

“I still think it’s going down into the 17,000s,” Moyer said.

But, he added, with 5,000 people in the system for murder and another 2,000 for rape and other sex offenses, there is a level below which the state is unlikely to ever go.

The long-term decline in the state’s prison population has allowed his department to close older facilities, including prison wings at Jessup and Hagerstown, Moyer said.

Del. Kathleen Dumais, a Montgomery County Democrat, said factors other than the law help explain the longer-term decline. She said the state has improved its services for people who complete their sentences.

“There’s much more focus over the last 10 years on re-entry, and that’s been making a difference,” she said.