The ACLU of Maryland is a non-partisan organization that exists to empower Marylanders to exercise their rights so that the law values and uplifts their humanity. The items below are some of the issues we expect to dedicate significant time and resources to during the 2025 legislative session.
2025 General Assembly Priorities – Downloadable PDF
Maryland incarcerates the highest percentage of Black people in the country, at 72 percent of our prison population, more than twice the national average. Shamefully, Maryland also leads the nation in sentencing young Black men to the longest prison terms, at a rate 25 percent higher than the next nearest state – Mississippi. These facts underscore a pressing and deeply troubling racial justice issue within Maryland’s criminal justice system.
The only way to reduce existing racial disparities is to create more meaningful avenues for release for those who have demonstrated their rehabilitation.
To build towards restorative justice and reduce mass incarceration, the ACLU of Maryland and the Maryland Second Look Coalition will work to pass the Maryland Second Look Act. The bill seeks to address the state’s extreme race disparities and advance public safety by allowing people serving extreme sentences who have served at least two decades the opportunity to petition the court to modify or reduce their sentence based on their demonstrated rehabilitation. This evidence-based initiative recognizes the transformative potential of focusing on rehabilitation and the urgency of addressing racial justice in our criminal legal system.
Fact Sheet – Pass the Maryland Second Look Act
Anthony Muhammad video transcript available here.
Alexandra Bailey video transcript available here.
Press conference highlights video transcript available here.
