Senate panel moves justice bill forward

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted Tuesday to move forward a bill to address the rise in certain crimes among juveniles by providing more diversion and rehabilitative services to children alleged of committing crime.

The bill, now headed to the Senate floor where it is likely to face debate, was amended to closely match its companion bill in the House.

The legislation brought in response to constituent anecdotes regarding youth crime and a rise in car thefts, carjackings and firearms charges among Maryland children passed on a vote of 7-2. Sens. Jill P. Carter, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, and Charles Sydnor, a Democrat representing Baltimore County, were the only opposition votes.

Several measures added to Senate Bill 744 reflected those adopted on the House floor Tuesday morning, including the requirement that programs through the Department of Juvenile Services like the THRIVE Academy be codified, and that intake officers decide within two days whether charges should be pursued against a child.

In step with the House, the Senate committee also struck language from Senate Bill 2, or the NyKayla Strawder Memorial Act, from the bill.

Sponsored by Carter, the NyKayla Strawder Act would mandate that children under 13 alleged to be involved in the death of another person be sent to the Department of Juvenile Services, where intake officers would file delinquency or Child in Need of Services (CINS) petitions to connect them with rehabilitative and diversion programs.

The family of NyKayla Strawder, the 15-year-old girl fatally shot by a 9-year-old boy in 2022, requested that the legislature allow Carter’s bill to move forward in her honor separately from the multifaceted juvenile justice bill. That bill was also voted out of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Tuesday.

While the amended juvenile justice bills from both chambers are similar, the Senate committee adopted variations of several measures, including jurisdiction for younger children under the Department of Juvenile Services.

Under current law, children under 13 can only be charged for violent offenses, like rape, murder and carjacking.

The original bill would have expanded that list to include firearm possession, animal abuse, third-degree sex offenses and car theft. The Senate committee pared down those charges to only third-degree sex offenses and firearms offenses, including possession, the use of a gun in the commission of a crime, and possession of a ghost gun.

The House Judiciary Committee amended House Bill 814 to include third-degree sex offenses, firearms charges and the evisceration of animals in the bill. Both committees removed car theft from the umbrella of charges. In those instances, the Senate committee added a provision to require that CINS petitions be filed. House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger, a Democrat from Baltimore City, said last week that a forthcoming amendment would put those children in a mandatory diversion program.

Under both bills, children could be held in pretrial detention if they were found delinquent twice during a two-year period or if, while under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services, they committed an offense that would be punishable by more than two years in prison if committed by an adult. However, the Senate included a carve-out for second-degree assault in the offenses that could land a child in pretrial detention.

Like the House bill, the Senate’s amended legislation would allow judges to extend a child’s probationary period if they have two unexcused absences from their court-mandated diversion program. However, the judge would also have the discretion to determine whether the child has, in substance, completed the program despite their absences. They would also be alerted if a child had four unexcused absences after their probationary period was extended.

Carter, who has criticized the bill since its introduction, introduced an amendment to require that 10- to 12-year-old children found in possession of firearms be placed in mandatory diversion programs or subject to CINS petitions.

She said that children charged with gun possession often wait at home to be prosecuted — if they’re even prosecuted at all. According to Carter, 10- to 12-year-olds frequently are found incompetent to stand trial.

“… [T]o use the word that everybody’s been using about these young people — it might appear to be the way to hold them accountable, but in reality, it’s actually not the best thing,” she said of prosecuting children with gun charges.

Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith, a Montgomery County Democrat, opposed Carter’s amendment, noting that the number of young children found carrying firearms is a “very small population.” He also said that the CINS process has not been working and state’s attorneys in many jurisdictions don’t use it.

“I think this is an acknowledgment that there are some things that are so serious … that the option has to be there for the court to take a deep dive, balancing all of the factors, and decide,” he said.

Carter reiterated that this would only affect children found in possession of guns — not those who had committed crimes of violence with them. Carter’s amendment failed on a vote of 6-2. Sens. Anthony Muse and Nick Charles, both Prince George’s County Democrats, abstained from the vote. According to Smith, certain amendments offered by other committee members would be accepted on the Senate floor.

The House version of the bill is expected to be debated Wednesday. The Senate is likely to take up the bill toward the end of the week.