skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Report: Maryland Has Largest Black Prison Population in U.S.

play audio
Play

Thursday, January 23, 2020   

BALTIMORE -- While racial disparities in imprisonment in the U.S. have decreased overall, Maryland's is on the rise, according to a new report.

More than 70% of the state's prison population is black, compared with about 30% of the state population.

This is the highest percentage of imprisoned African-Americans in any state in the nation, according to Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, which put out the report.

Schindler says the national average is a little over 30%, and he points out that underinvestment in neighborhoods, especially in Baltimore, and harsh crime policies are some of the many reasons for the large racial disparity.

"We have to recognize that within the justice system in Maryland and how the justice system responds doesn't help things," he states. "It actually makes it worse oftentimes, and that includes over policing, very harsh sentencing, restrictive parole practices."

The racial disparities exist even as Maryland's prison population declined by 13% since 2014, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Gov. Larry Hogan just announced four new bills to reduce violent crime that include adding up to 500 additional police officers.

But Schindler maintains what's needed is more investment in programs for young adults, not more policing.

The Justice Policy Institute report shows that the racial difference in prisons is most pronounced among emerging adults ages 18 to 24, who criminal justice reform advocates say are developmentally more like teenagers.

Tyrone Walker, who works with Schindler at the institute, was 19 when he was incarcerated for killing another man. He maintains if he had more resources in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood at the time, he might not have committed the crime.

"They always talk about victims and perpetrators, but no one ever talks about perpetrators being victims," he states. "A lot of us come from these crime-ridden communities with the wrong concept of what a man looks like, what community members are. A lot of us never heard the word 'community.' "

The JPI report suggests that Maryland consider legislation to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 20, following the lead of other states such as Vermont, Illinois and Massachusetts.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


Data show Oak Ridge residents pay $2.67 million in taxes toward nuclear weapons programs. (fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021