Posted on 10/29/24
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Oct. 29, 2024 - Beginning November 1, changes to Maryland's Juvenile Justice laws will be implemented.
Lawmakers expanded DJS jurisdiction for kids between the ages of 10 and 12 years old, required a child in need of supervision, or CINS petition to be filed when a juvenile in that age range is accused of stealing a vehicle, extended probation length, required notification when a juvenile already under DJS supervision commits another crime, and created an oversight panel to monitor the programs and progress within DJS.
"I think little by little over the next weeks and months, hopefully, I strongly believe that we will begin to see change," Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates said.
While Bates said the changes would be gradual, he said the laws should bring more accountability to the system and young offenders.
"There's nothing within this process or these new laws that I look at and say this will lead to mass incarceration, more people being arrested," Bates said. "What it does is talk about accountability for DJS, accountability for the system, accountability for young people, which hopefully equals safety for all the residents and citizens of not only Baltimore, but across the state."
Bates said with the new laws set to take effect, they could see an increased case load. To prepare, Bates said his office has hired additional staff members.
"If an officer asks for a young person to be detained, then DJS, even if they decide that that's not the way they want to go, they must refer those cases to us within two days and that's going to be a heavy lift for DJS. Also, making sure that we, meaning the prosecutors, receive each and every felony case," Bates said.
"Maybe in the long run, cases will go down because hopefully we will not see so many repeat offenders because we will deal with them at the very beginning instead of three and four times when they have had cases," he added.
State's attorneys in other counties also weighed in on how effective they believe the new juvenile justice laws will be.
In an email, Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said, "I believe we will have more cases which will allow the courts to treat the underlying problems experienced by the offenders. If these efforts work that should drive down juvenile crime."
In Calvert County, State's Attorney Robert Harvey said, "the legislative changes that take effect on November 1st are a small step in the right direction but clearly do not go far enough. I would advocate for a law to require DJS to report more crimes to the State’s Attorney’s Office, for example, all cases regarding assaultive behavior on school property. Now such cases can be closed by DJS at intake and we never learn about them. I would advocate for a law to allow pretrial detention for juveniles under 13 who are charged with handgun offenses. Now 10-12 year old's can only be detained pretrial if it is a second offense. The length of permissible juvenile probation needs to be increased (now 1 year for misdemeanors; 2 years for felonies)."
"I would favor a return to allowing a juvenile to be on probation until 21," he added. "Finally, the juvenile interrogation law needs to be scrapped. Requiring contact with a lawyer prior to questioning has effectively ended interrogation of juveniles. I would require contact with a parent or guardian in lieu of an attorney and permit the parent or guardian to waive counsel and allow the juvenile to be questioned. This puts some degree of responsibility on the parents."
Carroll County State's Attorney Haven Shoemaker said while he welcomes changes to the laws, he wishes the legislature had gone further. He said he would like to see the General Assembly revisit the Child Interrogation Act.
"The ability to charge younger individuals with crimes will certainly be helpful," Shoemaker said."I also welcome the changes to terms of probation encompassed by the new law because under the existing law, the probationary period that juvenile offenders could have had imposed upon them was entirely too short.Furthermore, the requirement that DJS must loop in the local State’s Attorney’s Office regarding juvenile offenses that are occurring is a welcome change."