1

September21,2020

SenatorBillFergusonPresidentoftheMarylandSenateH-107StateHouse100StateCircleAnnapolis,MD21401

DearPresidentFerguson,

Wearewritingtovoiceourseriousconcernsaboutthe“billhearings”scheduledthisweekbeforetheJudicialProceedingsCommittee.

Itisshockingthatwithmorethan50peopleshotintwoweeksinBaltimore,240individualsshotandkilledinBaltimorethisyear,including3-year-oldShaniyaGilmoreandherpregnantmother,JPRwouldholdhearingsonasuiteof15billsthatwouldcertainlyresultinlesspolicing.Itisequallytroublingthat,giventheincredibleandunacceptablecarnageinBaltimore,wewouldexcludelegislationmodeledafterGovernorHogan’santi-crimepackage,whichtheSenatepassed43-4lastSession,frombeingheardatthesametime.Itisimperativethatwemovesimilarlegislationquicklytokeeppeoplesafefromrisingcrime.WeaskthattheJudicialProceedingsCommitteecancelwhatisreallynothingmorethanananti-policepoliticalrallyandinsteadholdhearingsonapotentialanti-crimepackagethatwillsavelivesinourstatebykeepingrepeatviolentoffenderswhousegunsoffthestreetandinprison.

In2015-2016,afterthedeathofFreddieGrayandtheBaltimoreRiots,theGeneralAssemblyputtogetherabipartisanpolicereformworkgroupwhereRepublicansandDemocratscametogether,andpassed,almostunanimously,thePoliceReformandAccountabilityAct.Itshouldbenotedthatthisprocessinvolvedaseriesofpublichearingstodeterminetheproblemandproposesolutions.Wedidnotinitiatethehearingswithagroupofbillscreatedbyideologicallyone-sidedadvocacygroups.

JPRhasastrongtraditionofcomingtogetherontoughissuesonbehalfofallMarylanderstofindmeaningfulsolutions.PoliceReformandtheJusticeReinvestmentActbothpassedwithnearlyunanimousvotesashaveotherbillsthatdealtwithcrimeandraceandthatinspiredstrongopinionsonthepoliticalrightandleft.ThisisbecausetheJPRmembershaveworkedtogetherinabipartisanfashiontocarefullycraftlegislationtoappropriatelydealwiththesetoughproblems.

EventheMarylandHouseofDelegates,whichisamorepartisanandlessdeliberativebodythantheSenate,hasputtogetherabi-partisantaskforcethissummertolookatpolicerelatedissues.

ThisisallinstarkcontrastwithJPR’splannedthreedaysofhearingson15unambiguouslyanti-policebillsintroducedbythreeDemocratmembersofthecommittee.ItshouldbenotedthatRepublicanswerenoteven

2

invitedtointroducelegislation.Perhapsevenworse,thehearingsdonotincludeanyscheduledtimeforlawenforcementofficialstobriefmembersandthepubliconourstate’scurrenttrainingpoliciesonuseofforce

andhowtheyplayoutpracticallyaswellasontheviewsofourlawenforcementprofessionalsonpotentialopportunitiesforimprovement.

Sadly,thedraftlegislationinfrontoftheJPRcommitteeislargelyareintroductionoffar-left,anti-policebillsthathavebeenfloatingaroundAnnapolisforyears.Theseproposalshavebeenrepeatedlyrejectedbecausetheywouldfurtherdemoralizeourpoliceandstripthemoftheirdueprocessrights.Thus,itwouldappearthatthishearingissimplyaplannedandconcertedefforttoexcitepartisan,politicalactivistsbeforeanupcomingelection.

Whilewehaveseennationalstoriesofpolicemisconduct,suchincidentsarequiterareinMaryland.Infact,wehaveseenfarmoreexamplesofpolicebeingassaultedandkilledinthelineofduty.Forexample:asuspectedDUIoffenderdraggingaStateTrooper2,000feetdownthehighwayinHowardCounty;ajuvenileoffenderrunningoveranofficerinBaltimoreCounty,andBaltimoreCityPoliceofficersbeingpunchedandkicked.

WhileBaltimoreCityistryingtodealwithallthisbloodshed,theCityisstillhundredsofpoliceofficersunderstaffed.OnehastowonderhowBaltimoreandothercommunitieswilleverbeabletofilltheirbackloginpolicehiringifalloftheseanti-policebillspass.WhywouldanyonewanttojointhepoliceforcewhenitappearsthattheMarylandGeneralAssemblynotonlyrefusestosupportthepolicebutispassingbillsthatwouldsubjectthemtouptotenyearsinprisonaswellasunlimitedpersonalliabilityfortheirsplit-seconddecisionsthat,with20-20hindsight,arefoundbyuntrainedpeopletohavebeenwrong.

Tostartthisprocess,monthsbeforesession,with15highlypartisan,anti-policebillsisanaffronttonotjusttheminoritypartybutalsotothelongstandingtraditionofcollegialityintheMarylandSenate.

Furthermore,weobjecttocappingthenumberofpeoplefromthepublicwhowillbeabletotestify,andofcoursethereisastronglikelihoodthatmembersofthepublicwillhavenoknowledgeofnextweek’shearingsuntilaftertheyhaveconcluded,inasmuchasthehearingsarebeingheldatatimeoftheyearwhenhearingsareneverheld.Realsolutionsrequireinputfromallstakeholders,notjustaselectgroupofpartisanadvocates.

Whileitisnotyetclearwhatprocesswillbefollowednextweek(aswehavebeenshutoutoftheplanningprocess),wewouldalsoobjecttoanyattempttocharacterizethesethreedaysas“publichearings”asthattermisusedintheSenateRules.Evenifeventsplannedfornextweekproceed,theseproposedbillsshouldstillbeintroducedasanyotherbillsatthestartofthe2021session,assignedtoanappropriatecommittee,andpublichearingsheldoneachbillintheordinarycourse,aswithanyotherbillintroducedforthe2021session.

Insummary,werequestthatthehearingsscheduledonthese15billsbecancelledand,astheMarylandSenatehasdoneinthepast,thathearingsbescheduledontheproblemstobeaddressed,thatpublicinputberequestedonappropriatesolutions,andthataconsensusthenbedevelopedonlegislativesolutions.

Finally,ifweareholdingemergencyhearings,weshouldalsobeholdinghearingsonanti-crimelegislationlikeGovernorLarryHogan’sbillswhichtargetrepeatviolentoffenders.Clearlythereisacrisisofviolencein

3

ourstreetsthatmustbeaddressed.BothDemocratsandRepublicansshouldbeabletointroducebillsontheseissuesandnotjustthreeselectmembersofthemajorityparty.

Let’snotturntheMarylandSenateintoa“CapitolHill-style”showwithpartisanhearings.Wecanandshoulddobetter.

Sincerely,

SenatorBobCassilly

SenatorMichaelHough

SenatorJustinReady

SenatorChrisWest

SenateMinorityLeaderJ.B.Jennings

SenateMinorityWhipSteveHershey

SenatorMaryBethCarozza

SenatorJasonGallion

SenatorJohnnyRaySalling

SenatorGeorgeEdwards

SenatorEdReilly

SenatorBryanSimonaire

SenatorAddieEckardt

SenatorJackBaily

SenatorPaulCorderman