WHAT: Press conference to oppose Governor Larry Hogan’s backward-looking, ineffective crime bills, House Bills 100, 101, and 102.

WHO: Del. Mary Washington, Del. Carlo Sanchez; Steve Dixon, Penn North Community Resource Center; Neill Franklin, Law Enforcement Action Partnership; Dayvon Love, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle; William Miller, Sr. from Communities United. Further details about speakers to be confirmed.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 30, 2018.

WHERE: Room TBD; Annapolis, MD 21401.

Jan. 30 at 11 AM: Press Conference to Oppose Governor Hogan’s Backward, Ineffective Crime Bills

Contacts: Meredith Curtis Goode, ACLU of Maryland, 443-310-9946, media@aclu-md.org

ANNAPOLIS, MD – At 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 30, Delegates Mary Washington and Carlo Sanchez will join Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, the Office of the Public Defender, Communities United and other community and advocacy leaders for a press conference to oppose Governor Larry Hogan’s backward-looking crime bills, HB100/ SB 199, HB101/ SB197 and HB102/ SB198. These are the same ineffective policies current Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been fighting for throughout his career.

Hogan’s bills increase prison sentences, limit the possibility of parole, create mandatory minimums, and will cause more youth to be charged as adults. Historically, these backwards proposals have disproportionately been used against persons of color—they destroy families and communities, and are fundamentally unfair.

Non-partisan data has consistently demonstrated that mandatory minimums do not reduce crime. Instead, they bloat our prisons, largely with Black and Brown bodies, and waste precious taxpayer dollars.

COALITION MEMBERS

American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Advocates for Children and Youth, Campaign for Youth Justice, Color of Change, Communities United, Community Law in Action, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, Drug Policy Alliance, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Jews United for Justice, Job Opportunities Task Force, Justice Policy Institute, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, Maryland Office of the Public Defender, Open Society Policy Center, Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Sentencing Project.

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