By Yanet Amanuel, public policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, and Joanna Silver, policy committee co-chair of the Silver Spring Justice Coalition

The Sept. 20 editorial “Honor — and follow — Anton’s Law” was correct that Maryland police should provide the transparency that Anton’s Law requires. But it is not “too soon to reach a final verdict on Montgomery County’s arrangement.” Montgomery gives its police union and individual officers 10 business days to seek a court injunction to prevent the county from releasing police misconduct records under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA).

The General Assembly passed Anton’s Law to ensure transparency and accountability in policing by granting the public the right to timely access of police misconduct records with very narrow exceptions. Montgomery County’s agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 (FOP) undermines this intent and is in direct conflict with Anton’s Law which specifies that notice is to be given to an officer “when the record is inspected,” not in advance of such inspection.

The county’s assertion that the a memorandum of agreement is needed to “help prevent mistakes” is not credible.

Read the full OpEd on The Washington Post's website.

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Yanet Amanuel is the director of public policy at the ACLU of Maryland. Yanet began her advocacy journey as a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she earned a B.A. in Sociology. She has since held several impactful roles, including serving as Chief of Staff for a Prince George’s County Delegate, Region 7 Adult Representative on the NAACP National Youth Works Committee, Young Adult Chair of the Prince George’s County NAACP, and Policy Advocate at the Job Opportunities Task Force. Most recently, Yanet co-led the Maryland Coalition for Justice and Police Accountability, driving the ACLU’s legislative efforts to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights and reform the Maryland Public Information Act to ensure transparency in police misconduct cases. She has also led successful legislative advocacy campaigns that resulted in the passage of the Child Interrogation Protection Act, the prohibition of warrantless police searches based on the odor of marijuana, and the removal of the Governor from the parole process for individuals serving life sentences.
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