BALTIMORE, Md. – Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue issued the following statement in response to the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform’s recommendation that Maryland end the practice of automatically charging children as adults:
“Today marks a pivotal moment in our ongoing effort to create a more just and effective system for Maryland’s youth. The Commission’s recommendation to end automatic charging of children as adults is a critical step toward aligning our laws with decades of research on adolescent development and what truly works to promote public safety.
The automatic charging of children in adult court has disproportionately impacted children of color and failed to improve community safety. Maryland casts a much wider net than ‘only the most violent offenders,’ by automatically charging children with a broad range of 33 offenses. Research consistently shows that children prosecuted as adults are more likely to reoffend and face harsher long-term consequences.
The ‘sophisticated offender’ narrative is fear mongering contradicted by both neuroscience and outcomes. The current system’s failure is stark: 85-87% of automatically charged cases end up dismissed or back in juvenile court, wasting millions in taxpayer dollars, traumatizing predominantly Black children in adult jails while scientific evidence confirms adolescent brains are still developing.
I commend the Commission for this evidence-based recommendation and urge the Maryland General Assembly to swiftly enact legislation ensuring all children are treated as children, with access to age-appropriate interventions that hold them accountable while providing opportunities for growth and change. Every child deserves a chance at redemption, and our system should reflect that fundamental truth.”
District Public Defender for Baltimore County, James Dills stated: “Despite Maryland’s rate being eight times the federal threshold, prosecutors shamelessly defend a system where children spend upwards of 180 days in confinement. 85% of those cases are ultimately dismissed or transferred back to juvenile court. This approach increases the potential for violent reoffending. The costs associated with this are upwards of $120,000 per child while also risking $350,000 in federal funding.”
District Public Defender for Baltimore City, Marguerite Lanaux added: “Prosecutors falsely blame reform initiatives for crime spikes when data tells a different story. Misleading the public to believe that children who are charged as adults are primarly pending cases of murder and rape and housing kids as young as 14 in adult jails, where children face heightened risks of abuse, self-harm, sexual violence and suicide.
DJS has the capacity and programs to serve all children when their cases are heard in the juvenile court system. DJS’s new leadership has made clear its commitment to immediately supporting sufficient long-term programming for all children and the resources currently wasted by auto-charging would only enhance DJS’s abilities.
Maryland must invest in expanded DJS capacity, specialized treatment, mental health services, and adequate staffing: evidence-based solutions that serve public safety while giving children the interventions they need to change their trajectories. Sensible reforms don’t increase crime. They actually protect the public and the State’s Attorneys should know this.”