The Afro News published this OpEd on March 12, 2025.
Maryland’s prison system has some of the worst racial disparities in the nation – outpacing even Mississippi and Alabama. According to the Sentencing Project, 82 percent of Black Marylanders serving life sentences were under 25 at the time of their offense, the highest rate in the nation.
But, despite evidence of systemic injustice and overwhelming support for reform, critical solutions remain stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.
The Maryland Second Look Act (HB 853/SB 291) offers a research-based remedy to mass incarceration and racial disparities in our state’s prison system. The bill would allow people who have served at least 20 years to petition the court for a sentence reduction based on their rehabilitation. The Second Look Act empowers judges to consider how people have grown during their time in prison, their history, any racial bias in sentencing, and many other factors, to decide whether to adjust their sentences appropriately. That could mean a second chance for hundreds of Marylanders who have earned it.
The issue is so urgent, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland has made it a priority – and the ACLU of Maryland, the Second Look Coalition, and other criminal justice advocates are fiercely advocating for the bill.
