Senate nears passage of crime bill

Bipartisan measure includes some of Hogan’s proposals on fighting street violence

The Maryland Senate is on track to pass a bipartisan crime bill that supports much of Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposal to combat street violence while softening the Republican’s call for mandatory minimum sentences and a crackdown on gangs.

The broad bill packages several antiviolence proposals and was approved Thursday by a Senate committee with support from both Democrats and Republicans. But advocates for criminal justice reform say the process has been moving too quickly and has relied too heavily on prosecutors in devising longer jail terms that, they say, do little to rehabilitate offenders.

The bill proposes guaranteed spending for anti-violence programs such as Safe Streets in Baltimore, a program that aims to deter violence before it erupts, and efforts to build connections between police and young people.

Sen. Robert A. “Bobby” Zirkin, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee that approved sending the measure to the full Senate this week, said the bill is not aimed at reducing incarceration like the sweeping Justice Reinvestment Act, which was approved in 2016 and repealed some mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.

“This bill focuses like a laser beam on the violent offenders,” the Baltimore County Democrat said.

Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Hogan, said the governor is pleased withZirkin’s workand is eager to see the bill passed even though it proposes to eliminate some elements of the sweeping crime plan the governor announced in Baltimore in December.

“We appreciate his willingness to work with the administration on moving forward with many of the governor’s proposals to reduce violent crime and get violent criminals off our streets,” Mayer said.

The bill adopts some of Hogan’s get-tough approach but takes a different path to get there. Zirkin said his committee’s consensus was to reject many of the Republican governor’s proposals to increase mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of repeat gun offenses, but to increase the maximum sentences a judge can impose for dozens of violent offenses.

One example of the type of offense that could bring a longer jail term under the Senate proposal is a second conviction for using a handgun during a crime. Under the governor’s proposal, that and many other violent crimes short of murder could result in a 10-year minimum sentence. The judge would not be allowed to suspend any part of the sentence.

Under the Senate proposal, the potential sentence for possessing a gun while committing a crime would increase from 20 to 40 years.

Zirkin said the changes reflect a philosophical reluctance to approve mandatory minimums. “Judges and prosecutors need to have discretion based on the individual case,” he said.

The high maximum possible sentences proposed in the bill — amounting to half a lifetime for many people — are justified for some of the worst violent offenders, Zirkin said. He said he did not envision many offenders serving the maximum terms but believes the higher maximums will give the state leverage when negotiating plea bargains.

“At some level you have to rely on prosecutors not to prosecute overzealously,” Zirkin said.

Sen. Michael J. Hough, a Frederick County Republican, said he expects to support the bill.

“It envisions a lot of what the governor put in,” Hough said. “It’s going to be a big bipartisan win.”

Still, the Senate’s quick work is making some criminal justice advocates nervous.

“It just feels like it’s on a fast track,” said Caryn York, executive director of the Job Opportunities Task Force, a statewide nonprofit that promotes employment programs. She said the committee has been relying too muchoninputfromprosecutors and shutting out other opinions.

“If we want to deal with this complex issue, it requires us to slow down a little bit,” York said.

If the bill passes the full Senate, it will move to the House Judiciary Committee. There is no House version of the bill, but Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. said Zirkin has kept him informed about how the bill is shaping up.

“We’re going to look at it and give it a chance,” the Prince George’s County Democrat said.