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MARYLAND ISSUES

Hogan crime bills won't actually reduce crime.

Violence in Baltimore continues at soar and city residents are desperate for solutions. Unfortunately, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has proposed crime bills that sound tough but that won’t actually reduce crime. Straight from the Trump-Sessions playbook, the governor’s plan relies on lengthy mandatory-minimum prison sentences. This approach wastes taxpayer dollars and results in higher recidivism rates. This outdated model of fighting crime that reflects a desire to “do something” to look tough shows little evidence that longer, mandatory sentences work. The Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice has found that it is the certainty of being caught and the swiftness of the response, not the length of the sentence, that deters future crime. Cities with record-low crime rates, like New York City, pursue tactics such as “hot spot” policing that target high-crime street corners and focusing resources on closing cases and getting convictions.

Hogan vetoed a bill to extend voting rights to felons

Hogan vetoed the law saying it improperly restored rights to people who had not yet paid their debt to society. He waged an aggressive social media campaign urging his supporters to lobby lawmakers to side with him and his "common sense" veto. The legislature narrowly overturned Hogan's veto of a bill to extend voting rights to felons before they complete probation and parole. The current system requires felons to complete probation and parole before registering to vote. But proponents argued that the system is confusing, unnecessary and demoralizing to ex-offenders trying to rebuild their lives.
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