
Community Update: Baltimore City government creating Reparations Commission
The Baltimore City Council is currently considering legislation that will create the Community Reinvestment and Reparations Commission (Bill 23-0353).
Communities that are most impacted by the war on drugs should get the most access to revenues from cannabis. We’re advocating that 60% of the tax revenues from cannabis sales should go back into the community.
The revenue should be allocated directly to local jurisdictions so that the community can have a role in how those resources are distributed. A metric should be used to determine jurisdictions most impacted by the war on drugs, and their portions of the tax revenues should be determined by that metric. The local legislature (county council) will pass an ordinance to determine specifics of how the resources are allocated within that particular jurisdiction.
Updates
The Baltimore City Council is currently considering legislation that will create the Community Reinvestment and Reparations Commission (Bill 23-0353).
After cannabis legalization, lawmakers must now preclude officers from relying on odor alone as pretext
We will discuss the status of crucial pieces of legislation. This includes criminal justice elements to cannabis legalization and other relevant issues being debated during the 2023 MD General Assembly.
Dayvon Love, co-founder of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and Director of Public Policy.
He joins Gabe Ortis to discuss bill SB 51, which removes the sole use of the odor of cannabis as the basis for stops and searches by law enforcement, as well as Jobs & Economic Justice Advocacy Day.
On 3.9.2023 – LBS testified on SB 516 – a bill that regulates the recreational cannabis industry.
Past Legislative Work
Fought against a bipartisan crime package that included mandatory minimum sentences – which are ineffective at addressing public safety and fueled the prison industrial complex.
Worked on amendments to LEOBR that were in the bill we advocated for in 2015 – which includes requiring that civilians serve on administrative hearing boards and the non-law enforcement entities are allowed to participate in the internal investigations of police misconduct. The legislation that passed was a change that allowed civilians to serve on trial boards (though it is not required). What did not pass was allowing non-law enforcement to participate in the internal investigation of police misconduct.
Worked on amendments to the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights (LEOBR). The primary focus of our advocacy that year was to require that civilians serve on the trial boards and to allow non-law enforcement entities to be involved in the internal investigations of police misconduct. This bill did not make it out of committee that year.
Passed Christopher’s Law, named after Christopher Brown who was killed by an off duty police officer in Baltimore County in 2012. This law required additional racial sensitivity and deescalation training. Additionally, it required that police officers learn CPR, due to the fact that the officer that killed Christopher Brown could have saved him if he knew how to do CPR.
Pressured the MD legislature and governor to abandon the plan to build a new youth detention center in east Baltimore.
Our work is powered by YOU. Join the fight by making a small donation every month to LBS.