Justice for Children Who Are Incarcerated

The ACLU of Maryland works to ensure that the justice system does not penalize children on the basis of gender, race, economic status or disability. Children are too often deprived of their liberty not because they pose a threat to public safety, but because they demonstrate a high level of need. The justice system for children must not expose them to abusive conditions of confinement, subject them to intrusive surveillance, or criminalize normal adolescent behavior. We seek to ensure that justice system responses to children are fair, equitable and rehabilitative.

The Latest

Press Release
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Maryland Enacts Second Look Act, Offering a Path to Reconsider Long Prison Sentences

Maryland officially enacted the Second Look Act (HB 853), an important step to giving incarcerated individuals sentenced as emerging adults a meaningful opportunity to seek sentence modification after demonstrating their rehabilitation and transformation.
Press Release
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Advocates Celebrate Passage of Second Look Act, Urge Continued Push for Justice

After years of tireless advocacy by families, formerly incarcerated people, and community leaders, the Maryland General Assembly has passed the Second Look Act (HB 853), providing a long-overdue pathway for sentence reconsideration grounded in rehabilitation, not retribution.
Resource
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EL ACTIVISMO DE LA ACLU DE MARYLAND EN LA ASAMBLEA GENERAL DE 2025

Resource
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ACLU of Maryland's Advocacy in the 2025 General Assembly

Court Case
May 15, 2014

Juvenile Curfew