Maryland, My Maryland

 Jazz Shaw at Hot Hair, Maryland Asking Why Juvenile Criminals Are Immediately Released

Last week in Baltimore, a woman had stopped her car at a traffic light at the intersection of East Lombard Street and South Patterson Park Avenue. She was suddenly set upon by two suspects who dragged her out of her car, assaulted her violently, and attempted to steal her vehicle. The attack was caught on a security camera and the police were later able to track down and arrest the suspects. They were 12 and 14 years old respectively. The police took the boys to the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center following their arrest. But they didn’t spend the night behind bars. That evening they were back home with their parents. Now both the police and some Maryland legislators have requested an investigation into why suspects like these are almost immediately released no matter how serious their crimes may be.

The Department of Juvenile Services has opened an internal investigation “with the intent of taking appropriate action” after several lawmakers raised concerns about issues that could be contributing to a crime trend involving juvenile suspects committing violent crimes.

In a letter to the Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi and Baltimore Police Chief Richard Worley, the lawmakers drew attention to juvenile violent crime suspects being released shortly after their arrest without explanation. Baltimore City Councilman Zeke Cohen, State Sen. Bill Ferguson, State Del. Luke Clippinger, State Del. Robbyn Lewis, and State Del. Mark Edelson signed the letter.

Under Maryland’s lenient laws, children under the age of 13 cannot be criminally charged with a crime except in the most extraordinary cases. So they couldn’t charge the 12-year-old in the case above, but they could have charged the 14-year-old. And even the younger boy could have been held overnight for processing. But both were immediately released. (The only reason they failed to steal the car was that neither of them knew how to drive a stick shift.)

That’s hardly the only case of concern. The legislators pointed to a sharp uptick in both car thefts and gun crimes involving juveniles in recent years. Few if any are ever seriously prosecuted. But this has been going on for years in Baltimore. Are these officials only just now noticing the problem?

We vote poorly, for the most part.