Understanding the Context
Maryland incarcerates the highest percentage of Black people in the country, at 72% of our prison population, more than twice the national average. Shamefully, Maryland also leads the nation in sentencing young Black men to the longest prison terms, at a rate 25% higher than the next nearest state—Mississippi. For almost 30 years, Maryland didn’t allow people with a life sentence seek parole. And racial disparities are most pronounced for “emerging adults” (18-24) who are serving long sentences. Bias against Black and Brown people and people with low income has been widely documented at every stage, from racial profiling by police to arrest to sentencing.
Documented errors in the criminal justice system include:
- Bad eyewitness testimony
- Lying jailhouse informants
- False or coerced confessions
- Junk science
- Police and prosecutorial misconduct
- Suggestive lineups
- Perjury
- Unconscious bias
- Racism
- False memories planted in children
Watch an interview with Ben Spencer and Barbara Bradley Hagerty held recently at Cedar Ridge. Spencer was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 34 years in prison. In her book Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction, and The Fight to Redeem American Justice, former NPR correspondent Hagerty tells his gut-wrenching story.
Take Action
Support Maryland’s Second Look Act
This Act would to address the state’s dire racial disparities and advance public safety by allowing people with extreme sentences who have served at least two decades the opportunity to petition the court to modify or reduce their sentence based on their demonstrated rehabilitation. It is an evidence-based initiative. Contact your legislator about Senate Bill 291. Join the rally on Monday February 17 from 4-8 p.m. in Annapolis.
Independent Investigation of Police Misconduct
Police Accountability Boards (PAB) were established in 2021 to provide independent, community-controlled oversight into police misconduct. Empower PABs to issue subpoenas, interview witnesses, and employ investigative techniques. Write your representative and encourage support of this bill, House Bill 533. More info on this bill can be found here.
Learn More
Learn more about the issues inside and outside the criminal justice systems. There is a great library in the farmhouse dedicated to racial justice. It is open each Sunday after the service to check out items. See the books in the Racial Justice Reading Room.
Criminal Justice Reform Group
The Criminal Justice Reform Group is comprised of a number of individuals in our community with an interest in learning about the inequities in the criminal justice system in our county, state, and country. The group considers ways we can get involved at both an individual and a systemic level to make an impact in reducing inequities and the results of those inequities, which have a disproportionate impact on people of color.
The group meets monthly to discuss news articles, books, and podcasts highlighting the challenges individuals, and particularly persons of color, face when interacting with law enforcement and the criminal justice system, and to plan initiatives. The group seeks to
- Identify organizations to work with (or support) in their efforts to impact legislation aimed at reforming the justice system, such as Equal Justice Initiative, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
- Identify organizations where individuals can volunteer to encounter and support those who are impacted by the justice system – the incarcerated, those returning to society from prisons, families of the incarcerated, and criminalized juveniles. Some members are already involved with Prison Fellowship and Kairos.
- Educate the congregation through voter guides outlining county and state candidates’ positions on criminal justice and policing, as well as though other initiatives such as a planned panel discussion on the impact of mass incarceration, to include the personal experiences of people formerly incarcerated.
You are invited to get involved with this work by joining the monthly meetings, held via zoom on the third Tuesday of each month, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. You can also join the mailing list to keep up on activities, even if you can’t attend the meetings. Contact Kate Thomas or Dave Martinsen for details.