To Make White Liberals Feel Safer, Grimacing Black Rolebot Governor Signs Law that Enables Mostly Black Children Age 10-12 to be Charged and Incarcerated for Adult Crimes. MD Juvy Jail is 77% Black
/From [HERE] The Juvenile Justice Reform Act is now a Maryland law after it was signed Thursday by Gov. Wes Moore.
The new law makes it possible for children ages 10 to 12 to be charged with illegal gun possession, auto theft, harming animals and sex offenses.
"Today, we will sign bills that will make Maryland safer," Governor Wes Moore said. "This issue mattered too much to think that we could hope, or urge, or pray, or insist that the legislature do more without actually being willing to do the work ourselves."
Lawmakers introduced it earlier this year to address a spike in juvenile crime.
According to data from the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, juvenile crime complaints have increased nearly 75% in recent years, from 7,100 complaints in 2021 to more than 12,363 in 2023.
The ACLU stated, the Governor has decided to take Maryland back to being ranked as one of the worst human rights violators of children in the entire United States. The intentional rollback of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act comes after just one year, without any facts, data, or evidence to justify it, and without consulting all the experts who worked so hard and relied on best practices, science, and evidence-based approaches that would actually improve public safety for all of us.
Said Yanet Amanuel, director of public policy at the ACLU of Maryland: “Do we truly believe in seeing and supporting the humanity of all our children? If so, legislators need to pause, reflect on how wrong-headed it is to incarcerate children for minor offenses, how important it is that elementary school children are not subjected to the criminal legal system, and then amend this bill to reflect those values. It is a proven fact that incarceration usually harms children more than it helps them. And despite Black children only making up 30 percent of the state’s population, they make up 77.4 percent of the children detained in Maryland juvenile jails. Our elected leaders must change course to ensure we do not usher in a new generation of failed, racist, tough on crime policies — and a renewed era of super-predator propaganda.” [MORE]