Maryland — State and Local Issues — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

State and Local Issues

Because 90% of all prisoners in the United States are in state facilities, the work that states are doing to reduce their prison populations is crucial. Attempting to end mass incarceration necessitates realizing this is a situation requiring not one national solution, but fifty state solutions. Below are current state solutions that could be effectively modeled by other states for meaningful reform.

On the one year anniversary of Md.'s Justice Reinvestment Act, we don't have enough data to analyze its efficacy

“Without this data, we can’t implement the JRA’s core reinvestment components — reallocating money saved from reducing the prison population to programs and interventions proven to enhance public safety. Because we have no idea how many people have been sentenced, or have not received a mandatory minimum, under the JRA, we can’t identify how much money was saved; it’s impossible to reinvest money we can’t identify. If Maryland fails to produce this data, we will be unable to fund crucial crime prevention programs. This would be a great loss for us all.“

Baltimore Sun

November 5, 2018

State ReformsPhillip ReevesNovember 5, 2018Baltimore Sun, Maryland, Justice Reinvestment ActComment

Maryland Leads as Prison Populations Continue to Decline

"In 2017, the U.S. prison population dropped below 1.5 million people for the first time since 2004, according to a new report by the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice. A decline in several states with large prison populations, including Maryland, Louisiana and Illinois, is responsible, along with a drop in federal prisoners."

The Marshall Project

May 18, 2018

Mass IncarcerationAnthony BradleyJuly 31, 2018The Marshall Project, Maryland

State and Local Issues

Galsworthy CJR Program

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