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Panel Hears Broad Support and Deep Concerns Over Maryland's Youth Charging Reform (HB 409)
Summary
Witnesses including DJS, the Public Defender and victim advocates urged the Judiciary Committee to start most 14—16-year-old cases in juvenile court, citing research on development and harms of adult prosecution. Elected prosecutors warned DJS lacks capacity and that timelines may not fit complex violent cases.
Delegate (unidentified by transcript) introduced House Bill 409 as an effort to balance child development, public safety and rehabilitation and to preserve adult court for the most serious crimes. Supporters told the House Judiciary Committee the bill would end Maryland's outlier practice of routinely starting many older youth in adult court and then moving most of the cases back to juvenile court.
Natasha Dartig, of the Office of the Public Defender, said children placed in adult facilities face prolonged isolation and missed services, and cited national research that youth prosecuted in adult court are more likely to reoffend. "We have not created a justice system for children. We have created a trapdoor," she said, urging the committee to start these cases where they belong.
Betsy Fox Tolentino, acting secretary of the…
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