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House speaker vote update: Johnson wins showdown with GOP hard-liners; President Biden and the First Lady to travel to New Orleans on Monday; Hunger-fighting groups try to prevent cuts to CA food-bank funding; Mississippians urged to donate blood amid critical shortage; Rural telehealth sees more policy wins, but only short-term.

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Federal officials present more information about the New Orleans terrorist attack and the Las Vegas cybertruck explosion. Mike Johnson prepares for a House speakership battle, and Congress' latest budget stopgap leaves telehealth regulations relaxed.

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The humble peanut got its '15 minutes of fame' when Jimmy Carter was President, America's rural households are becoming more racially diverse but language barriers still exist, farmers brace for another trade war, and coal miners with black lung get federal help.

MD ranks among worst states for long-term incarceration

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Wednesday, December 4, 2024   

Maryland has one of the highest percentages in the nation of people in prison who began serving time when they were juveniles.

A new report from Human Rights for Kids included survey results from more than 120 people in Maryland who have been in prison since childhood. It found nearly 70% had experienced six or more Adverse Childhood Experiences, the major upheavals in a child's life affecting their development, from abuse and neglect to incarcerated relatives and domestic violence.

Nate Balis, director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said one concern is children in Maryland are automatically tried as adults if they're accused of any of more than 30 crimes.

"Because it's based on offense -- and not based on the individual circumstances of the offense itself, or of a young person's history, or of even considering the trauma that young people have experienced -- it means that just because of the offense, we are charging young people as adults," Balis explained.

The report showed 6% of Maryland's incarcerated population has been in prison since childhood. The numbers also include immense racial disparities, with more than 90% being people of color. The report recommended all cases involving a child start in juvenile court and courts be required to take Adverse Childhood Experiences into account during sentencing.

Balis also noted compared to adults, young people are more capable of change, which he argued should mean more effort is made to keep them out of the adult system.

"We want to do everything we can to steer them away from the system," Balis urged. "To prevent them from future offending, to fill their lives with good things, to keep them away from the justice system. Not to pull them deeper into the system and even into the adult criminal justice system, when we could serve them effectively in the juvenile justice system."

Other recommendations include prohibiting the use of solitary confinement for children and not housing children in adult jails and prisons.

Disclosure: The Annie E Casey Foundation contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Education, Juvenile Justice, and Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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