Press conference in opposition of Governor Hogan’s proposed crime package
January 30, 2018 ACY along with its partners from the ACLU, the Office of the Public Defender, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, Community Law and Action, and others held a press conference in opposition of Governor Hogan’s proposed crime…
Repealing Juvenile Life Without Parole
The Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Judiciary Committee recently held hearings on a bill to eliminate Juvenile Life Without Parole. ACY supports these bills in accordance with our opposition to extremely long prison sentences for persons convicted for…
Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Tell the House Judiciary Committee to support HB471 and hold children accountable in an appropriate and fair way. Click here to send your letter. The Maryland Senate recently heard SB215, a bill to scale back the automatic charging of youth as…
End the automatic charging of youth as adults.
For certain statutorily defined offenses, children have their cases automatically transferred to adult criminal court. It is currently possible for a case so transferred to be reverse-transferred back to juvenile court, but better still would be a system where all…
Promote legislation creating judicial discretion to increase youth access to diversion alternatives.
A “diversion alternative” is an option to address offenses by youth offenders outside of the formal juvenile justice system, through programs focused on anger management, crisis intervention, drug and alcohol education, or whatever such services may be necessary in a…
2016 Legislation to Watch: Youth Justice
Abolishing the sentence of juvenile life without the possibility of parole February 16, 2016 Rais Akbar, juvenile justice policy director, submitted written testimony in support of SB259, which abolishes for juveniles the criminal sentence of life in prison without the possibility of…
Allow Juvenile Court Judges the Option to Divert Cases
When a child first enters the juvenile justice system, he or she may be diverted away from a formal court case in favor of an informal resolution. This may involve the completion of a substance abuse program, or an anger…
Oppose Legislative Efforts to Regulate School Disciplinary Policies and Practices
Advocates for Children and Youth supports the Maryland State Board of Education and State Department of Education in their work to create, implement and enforce policies that promote appropriate and meaningful discipline practices, eliminate disparities, and keep students in school…
Legislation to Watch- JUVENILE JUSTICE
Youth Receiving Life Sentences and the Possibility for Parole February 20, 2015 SB366/HB 337 Correctional Services - Sentencing Review and Parole Eligibility - Juvenile Offenders Sentenced as Adults authorizes parole eligibility for a person sentenced for an offense committed before the person's…
Promote policies that limit the time a youth stays in detention
SB116 – Juvenile Law – Committed Facilities – Repeal of Termination Repeals the termination of specified provisions of law authorizing the Department of Juvenile Services to transfer a child committed to residential placement from a specified facility to another facility…
End the automatic prosecution of youth as adults
SB515/HB1295 – Juvenile Law – Transfer of Cases to Juvenile Court Repeals a provision that prohibits a court exercising criminal jurisdiction in a case involving a youth to transfer the case to the juvenile court Why this bill is important:…
End secure detention for youth under 13
SB485/HB407 – Juvenile – Prohibition against Continued Detention Prohibits the use of secure detention for children 11 years old and younger Why this bill is important: Advocates for Children and Youth supports this bill as 11 year olds are too…