Attorney General Anthony Brown, right, gives opening remarks at the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative meeting June 4, 2024, at the Office of Public Defender’s training center in Linthicum Heights. Public Defender Natasha Dartigute listens. Photo by Willam J. Ford.

A group aiming to eliminate mass incarceration in Maryland plans to complete a rough draft of its recommendations by August and produce a final report by January, in time for the start of the 2025 General Assembly session.

The Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC), co-chaired by Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) and Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, was formed in October and met Tuesday at the public defender’s training center in Linthicum Heights to discuss its progress. The goal is to present its final report not only to state lawmakers, but to community leaders and other stakeholders as well.

“You are essentially going to be the authors of the report that comes out in January, so as much information as you can provide will be great,” Dartigue said during the nearly two-hour session. “You don’t need to put out seven [proposals] if you have like a hearty, well-developed three or four. That is great. It’s really about quality, not quantity.”

Members serve on seven work groups focused on these topics:

• Education, workforce development and economic opportunity;

• Prison, jail and detention facility reform;

• Promoting successful re-entry and preventing reincarceration;

• Criminal law and sentencing reform;

• Health and human services;

• and law enforcement policies and practices.

The law enforcement work group overachieved, with at least seven recommendations that include decreasing law enforcement interactions with those suffering a mental health crisis, raising awareness of and participation in local police accountability boards and making police misconduct data accessible to the public.

“This is very difficult subject matter to tackle and to raise consensus on,” said Deborah Katz Levi, director of special litigation in the public defender’s office, and a co-chair of the law enforcement work group. “I say that these are our objectives, but they are subject to change as we truly build authentic consensus.”

Terri Green, director of social work in the public defender’s office, said there remains a consistent problem: Those in the Black community not receiving adequate and culturally sensitive services. An example is to acknowledge, or be aware, of trauma a person may have experienced as a child, teenager, or even an adult, she said.

Green, co-chair of the health and human services work group, said one proposal is to establish a “public mental health well-being campaign.”

“How do we connect them in the moment to trusted, quality mental well-being services, so that we can impact and decrease the number of Black men going into the criminal legal system?” she asked in an interview.

Besides the attorney general and public defender offices, another 38 state agencies and nonprofit organizations are also part of the collaborative that launched in October.

Dartigue introduced former Judge Karen Friedman, who served for more than 20 years in Baltimore’s orphans’ court, district court and circuit court before being appointed more than two years ago to be director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement at the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

One of Friedman’s duties is to help bring resources and money to states for programs such as mental health, reentry services and substance use.

“I knew that I would be able to offer my knowledge as far as what is available for funding to make some of these fabulous ideas happen,” Friedman, a member of the prison, jail and detention work group, said in an interview.

“You can have the best ideas in the world. But if you can’t fund them, then you’re back to square one,” she said. “So, I’m very happy to be able to share information about what we have available.”

The post Group making gains on recommendations to reduce mass incarceration appeared first on Maryland Matters.