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Panel split over restoring jury eligibility for people with past convictions
Summary
Supporters argued HB 414 would re‑enfranchise people who have served sentences and diversify juries; prosecutors and some state's attorneys said prior convictions can create impermissible bias and complicate voir dire and trial administration.
Delegate Kent Roberson introduced House Bill 414 to reduce the pool of Marylanders permanently barred from jury service because of prior convictions punishable by a year or more.
Public Defender Office counsel and reentry advocates said the bill would return civic duties to people who have paid their debt to society, improve jury representativeness and aid reentry. "Where one third of all Americans have a criminal record," the public defender's…
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