House moves on juvenile justice reform
Provisions added as delegates give initial approval
The Maryland House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Wednesday to the comprehensive juvenile justice bill intended to connect children with diversionary and rehabilitative services.
Following an hour of debate, lawmakers pushed House Bill 814 closer to the governor’s desk, tacking on amendments that more closely align the House bill with the version passed out of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Tuesday.
The bill was brought before the legislature in response to a rise in carjacking, car theft and firearms charges among children and anecdotes from prosecutors, law enforcement and Maryland residents about increasing instances of crime. The multifaceted legislation would expand the charges that can be filed against children under 13, allow judges to expand probationary periods for minors who miss court-ordered diversion programs and alter the intake and pre-trial procedure for youth under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), among other measures.
The House voted Wednesday to add provisions that would require DJS to certify when they complete treatment plans for children on probation, require the agency to establish a program specific to 10- to 14-year-olds at risk of participating in gun violence, and moved the bill’s effective date from Oct. 2024 to Jan. 2025.
The Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging and Best Practices, which would be established under the bill and tasked with studying Maryland’s juvenile justice system, would begin meeting July 1.
The House bill was also amended Wednesday to require that children aged 10 to 12 participate in diversion programs after their first arrest for a firearms offense or car theft rather than reporting to DJS.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger, a Democrat from Baltimore City, said that the effective date was moved, in part, to allow organizations and police agencies to stand-up diversion programs in areas that currently don’t have any.
“The idea here is to keep them completely out of the system,” he said.
The amendment was adopted on a vote of 97-35.
Other lawmakers unsuccessfully lobbed amendments at the bill Wednesday, including Del. Mike Griffith.
Griffith, a Republican representing portions of Harford and Cecil counties, offered a measure that would give parents the ability to waive their child’s right to remain silent during police questioning.
In 2022, the legislature passed the Child Interrogation Protection Act, which requires police officers to contact children’s guardians and allow them to speak to a lawyer to explain their Miranda rights before questioning them in custody.
The law does not prohibit police from asking children questions when they are not in custody.
Law enforcement and state prosecutors argue the law, which has largely been flouted by the Baltimore Police Department, prohibits them from doing their jobs effectively, slows down the investigatory process and has been exploited by adults who allegedly use minors as their proxy to commit crimes.
Griffith said on the House floor Wednesday that the law intended to empower children to exercise their constitutional rights has hindered them by revoking their right to talk to police.
He also lamented that it inadvertently pulls children into the justice system unnecessarily.
“We have created a new class of criminal by doing this: innocent criminals,” Griffith said.
Clippinger clarified that the Child Interrogation Protection Act only requires that children have the ability to speak with a lawyer and that their parents are notified. Children could choose to waive or exercise their Fifth Amendment right during custodial interrogations, regardless.
House Judiciary Committee Vice Chair Sandy Bartlett, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, explained that people suspected of crime are the only ones who can waive their rights, and said that a lawyer who advises their client to not speak to police is “a good defense attorney.”
“The first thing I have to tell adults is: Don’t say nothing,”
“We have created a new class of criminal by doing this: innocent criminals.”
— Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican representing portions of Harford and Cecil counties
said House Economic Matters Committee Chair C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat.
Wilson, who is a defense attorney, said that adults are often unaware of their constitutional rights, and that police lie during interrogations in an attempt to “build their case.”
“Their job is to put the puzzle together in the way they see fit, and that is not always the truth,” he said.
Wilson invoked the Central Park Five — a group of Black teenage boys who were wrongfully convicted of rape and attempted murder in the 1980s. Those parents “waived the rights for those children, too,” he asserted.
“We do not need a Central Park Five in Maryland,” Wilson said.
Griffith’s amendment failed on a vote of 102-32.
Seeking to expand upon protections under the Child Interrogation Protection Act, Del. Gabe Acevero unsuccessfully offered an amendment to make statements children give during interrogations inadmissible in court if officers lie to elicit them.
Acevero, a Montgomery County Democrat, is sponsoring a bill with similar parameters this session, prompting Clippinger to encourage lawmakers to resist the amendment. Acevero pressed in its favor, noting that there’s no guarantee that the legislation will be considered.
“Another case of [the] Central Park Five has certainly happened here,” he said, recalling Wilson’s example from the previous debate. “We’re just not aware of it.”
Acevero’s amendment failed on a voice vote.
The House is expected to approve the bill and advance it to the Senate chamber this week. The Senate will take up its version of the bill during Thursday’s floor session.