Committee hears testimony on resolution to exonerate colonial witchcraft victims

The House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee heard testimony on House Joint Resolution 2 on an exoneration for people accused or convicted of witchcraft in colonial Maryland. Delegate Heather Bridal (District 33C, Anne Arundel County), the sponsor, asked the committee for a favorable report.

Supporters told the panel the resolution would correct long-standing historical wrongs and carries symbolic value without requiring state expenditures. "We can't go back in history, but we can make good on a promise this body made nearly 350 years ago," Delegate Heather Bridal said. Elizabeth Pleyase Shaw, who said she started the Maryland Witches Exoneration Project, told the committee, "It is past time that Maryland did the same." Joshua Hutchinson of End Witch Hunts said, "What happens in America resounds worldwide," urging action in part to signal opposition to ongoing violence tied to witchcraft accusations globally.

The resolution traces legal roots to the Witchcraft Act of 1604, which supporters said was adopted in Maryland in 1635. Testimony summarized court records that, supporters said, show seven people in Maryland (six women and one man) were formally tried in the colonial era. Witnesses named individuals discussed in testimony and written materials, including Mary Lee, Elizabeth Bennett, John Kalman, Rebecca Fowler, Hannah Edwards, Virgil Veil and Moll Dyer.

Witnesses described both procedural and social failures in the colonial prosecutions. Pleyase Shaw told the committee that some trials were "legally insufficient" and that at least one execution, she said, occurred while the legislature was out of session. Robin Elliott, representing the Maryland chapter of the American College of Nurse Midwives, connected historical accusations to the targeting of women who practiced healing arts. Ken Phelps of the Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network framed the measure as part of truth-and-reconciliation work.

Supporters cited recent actions in other jurisdictions and international statements as context. Witnesses noted Connecticut's recent exoneration legislation and referenced a 2022 U.N. human-rights resolution calling for action on witchcraft accusations that continue to threaten vulnerable people globally.

No committee vote on H.J.R. 2 was recorded in the hearing; the sponsor asked for a favorable report. The committee clerk closed the H.J.R. 2 testimony and moved on to other bills.

The hearing record shows only testimony and questions; the transcript does not show a committee decision on the resolution during this session.