ANNAPOLIS, MD – Following news that Governor Larry Hogan heartlessly vetoed Senate Bill 202, which would fix the state’s broken parole system for Marylanders serving life with parole sentences, the Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative and the ACLU of Maryland release the following statement:
“The advocacy to reform Maryland's unfair and racially biased parole system for people given life sentences began inside Maryland’s prison system almost 28 years ago. We will not be deterred by Governor Hogan’s refusal to be part of the solution to this serious, decades-long racial justice issue. This session, parole reform passed the General Assembly for the first time, and it is desperately needed by hundreds of Marylanders who have been repeatedly, wrongfully denied parole by Governors, which they have the right to earn, and their families and communities deserve this. We call on Maryland legislators to make overriding this shameful veto a priority in January 2022, because people who have earned and deserve a second chance must not be denied any longer.”
Meanwhile, in March there was an important victory on the road to fixing the state’s broken parole process for Marylanders given life sentences, when the Maryland Board of Public Works approved a legal settlement that requires the Maryland Parole Commission, Division of Correction, and Governor to adopt new regulations and policies to help rebuild Maryland’s parole process for those sentenced as children to life imprisonment. Learn more, here.
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