[Baltimore Sun] Maryland ranks 4th in U.S. for juveniles jailed after being charged as adults
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Maryland’s population of incarcerated people who were convicted as children on adult charges is the fourth highest in the nation, according to a report released by Human Rights for Kids, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization.
The report includes data from a 2023 national study and a 2024 survey of Maryland inmates.
More than 90% of youth offenders who were charged as adults are people of color, the study found. Of those, Black inmates make up 81% of the 1,132 jailed juvenile offenders charged as adults. Nineteen percent of juvenile offenders jailed as adults, or 214, are sentenced to life, according to the 2023 study.
“By automatically charging youth as adults for more than 30 different offenses — including misdemeanors — Maryland law fails to recognize any of a young person’s individual circumstances, including childhood trauma,” said Nate Balis, the director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Balis was part of a symposium held Wednesday at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, where the report findings were detailed. Much of the study, “Disposable Children: The Prevalence of Child Abuse and Trauma Among Children Prosecuted and Incarcerated as Adults in Maryland,” focuses on childhood trauma that could affect or trigger behavioral problems at young ages.
“Maryland is largely driven by unaddressed and ongoing childhood trauma which is exacerbated within communities contending with high rates of violence,” the report states.
The surveys identified 10 factors that contribute to traumatic childhood experiences.
Such trauma can lead to childhood and early adult behavioral problems. They include parental separation/divorce, household substance abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, household member incarceration, emotional neglect, household mental illness, witnessing domestic violence, physical neglect, and sexual abuse.
The survey found that 87% of respondents had parents who divorced or were separated, 71% had a household member who had gone to prison, and 64% experienced a form of emotional neglect.
Seventy-three percent said they had been physically abused, 39.5% reported sexual abuse, and 76% reported emotional abuse.
Many reported instability at home, including 82% who said they lived with someone who was an alcoholic or illegal drug user.
The average age respondents said they experienced abuse was six years old.
“This early exposure to abuse is crucial in understanding its long-term psychological and behavioral effects,” the report stated. “Individuals who experience abuse or neglect as children are 59% more likely to be arrested as children, 28% more likely to be arrested as adults, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.”
Juvenile punishments in Maryland relaxed after a 2022 law gave the Department of Juvenile Services more authority to handle youth crime. But after a surge of crime in 2023 by young offenders, prominently involving carjackings and auto thefts, the law reverted to stricter punishment on Nov. 1.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who is in charge of prosecuting juvenile crime, backs more accountability for young offenders. However, he said having a complete picture of juvenile crime in Maryland is also necessary.
“We firmly believe any conversation about juvenile crime and childhood trauma must include the trauma inflicted by these juveniles upon not only black youth and black communities but all communities across the state if the goal is to have a truly holistic assessment and discussion,” Bates said.
Have a news tip? Message Glynis Kazanjian at gkazanjian@baltsun.com.
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