Senator Bill Ferguson 100 State Circle · 21.09.2020 · Dear President Ferguson, ... offender...
Transcript of Senator Bill Ferguson 100 State Circle · 21.09.2020 · Dear President Ferguson, ... offender...
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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
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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
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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