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.

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.

The ACLU of Maryland is calling on state legislators to vote in favor of the Maryland Second Look Act (HB 853)

The following is a statement from Yanet Amanuel, public policy director for the ACLU of Maryland, regarding House passage of HB 814.

The ACLU of Maryland, along several directly impacted people and partner organizations, on Thursday, February 1 will testify in support of Senate Bill 123, the Maryland Second Look Act, which would create a more meaningful avenue for release for those who have demonstrated their rehabilitation.

The ACLU priorities for the 2024 Session of the General Assembly are removing criminal penalties for marijuana, enacting independent investigatory powers for Police Accountability Boards, passing a Maryland Voting Rights Act, and defending the right of children to a lawyer.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Today is a great, long-awaited day for fairness and racial justice, as the Maryland General Assembly voted to override a veto of SB 202, a bill to fix the state’s broken parole system so that Marylanders serving life sentences finally have a chance to earn release.