News & Commentary

It's hard to believe, but as the Baltimore Sun recently reported, Ronald Hammond is serving 20 years in prison for possessing less than a quarter ounce of marijuana - an amount so small that it's no longer a criminal offense in Maryland - because his guilty plea to a 2012 marijuana possession charge violated the terms of a ridiculously harsh 2010 probation sentence for selling $40 worth of cocaine.

Maryland Congressman Andy Harris stepped outside of his jurisdiction and ignored the opinion of Washington, D.C. residents when he tried used his power to undermine D.C.'s new marijuana decriminalization law. And he did so even though the public is clearly in favor of reform and despite the fact that decriminalization would help address the large racial disparities in arrests for marijuana possession.

At the core of this travesty is excessively harsh crime policies, which when paired with racially biased policing result in mass incarceration of people of color.African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites, while Latinos comprise about 20% of all inmates. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. Today, there are almost 500,000.The ACLU of Maryland advocates for humane and sensible policies that respect basic rights, seek to end racial profiling and make the best use of limited resources to help keep us safe.And then join the conversation by attending one or more of our upcoming events:

Originally published as an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun

Originally posted at Moving Maryland Forward Network

Can you believe it? We are already halfway through the General Assembly session!

Could this be the year that Maryland becomes the 18th state to repeal the death penalty? The reasons to end capital punishment are many, even though not all are widely known.

Cross posted from the Just Policy Blog