UPDATE – 9/12/2017
At the Baltimore City Council meeting on September 11th, the Baltimore City Council narrowly passed a weakened version of the mandatory minimum sentencing bill for illegal handguns. The legislation is not different from existing state law except for adding a $1,000 fine. The Mayor has not signed the bill into law yet.
Here’s a breakdown of the votes on the bill (which reflect the voting on the earlier amendments of this bill):
Council President: Bernard C. Young – YES
District 1: Zeke Cohen – NO
District 2: Brandon Scott – NO
District 3: Ryan Dorsey – NO
District 4: Bill Henry – NO
District 5: Issac Shleifer – YES
District 6: Sharon Green-Middleton – YES
District 7: Leon Pinkett – YES
District 8: Kristerfer Burnett – NO
District 9: John Bullock – YES
District 10: Eric Costello – YES
District 11: Ed Resigner – YES
District 12: Robert Stokes – YES
District 13: Shannon Sneed – NO
District 14: Mary Pat-Clarke – NO
UPDATE – 8/15/2017
On August 14, 2017, the Baltimore City Council voted to move forward with th bill that would give 1 year mandatory sentence for individuals possessing an illegal handgun within 100 yards of a public place.The bill moved forward with an 8-7 vote after being heavily amended by Councilman John Bullock in a council hearing.
Watch the video to listen to the testimony of the different Council members.
Here’s is their speaking order and vote of each council member on this controversial bill:
Council President: Bernard C. Young – YES
District 1: Zeke Cohen – NO
District 2: Brandon Scott – NO
District 3: Ryan Dorsey – NO
District 4: Bill Henry – NO
District 5: Issac Shleifer – YES
District 6: Sharon Green-Middleton – YES
District 7: Leon Pinkett – YES
District 8: Kristerfer Burnett – NO
District 9: John Bullock – YES
District 10: Eric Costello – YES
District 11: Ed Resigner – YES
District 12: Robert Stokes – YES
District 13: Shannon Sneed – NO
District 14: Mary Pat-Clarke – NO
Read the full amendments to the bill here.
UPDATE – 7/27/2017
The bill was heard in front of the Judiciary & Legislative investigations committee on July 25th, It lasted for over six hours with spirited testimony from residents on both sides of the issue, which resulted in two arrests of Baltimore residents at the hearing.
The bill was amended by Councilman John Bullock and voted favorably by the committee. The amendment would impose the one-year mandatory sentence only on individuals committing a second gun possession offense or carrying a gun in commission of a crime against a person or property.
Current Maryland law already applies a 1-year mandatory minimum on a second handgun possession offense, and already requires a 5-year mandatory sentence for using a gun while committing a violent crime or dealing drugs.
The next step is to bring the bill before the full body at its August 14 meeting. There has been talk that the measure could be expedited by voting twice (on second and third reader), which would land the legislation almost immediately on the desk of Mayor.
Although the legislation is stripped down, it is still BAD POLICY for Baltimore. The fact that this bill is essentially the STATUS QUO further proves that this will NOT solve Baltimore’s crime problem.
PRESSURE your Baltimore City Council to vote ‘NO’ on this bill.
Councilman Bill Henry and Councilman John Bullock are the undecided votes on this issue.
Call/Email their offices and tell them to vote ‘NO’ on this bill!
Councilman Bill Henry – 410-396-4830 – Bill.Henry@baltimorecity.gov
Councilman John Bullock – 410-396-4815 – John.Bullock@baltimorecity.gov
UPDATE – 7/17/2017
The hearing of the bill will be on July 25, 2017 at 10am @ City Hall – 100 Holliday St., Baltimore, MD 21202.
Currently there is legislation under consideration in the Baltimore City Council that would create mandatory penalties for illegal handgun charges within city limits. Under the proposed law, if a person is convicted of an illegal handgun charge, judges are required to impose a one-year sentence of imprisonment and fine of $1,000.
Click here to read the draft of the proposed bill for mandatory minimum charges illegal handguns.We have a decade of analysis which says this policy won’t work and may in fact make the problem worse. Scholars from the University of Michigan did a definitive study which showed that incarceration did not deter crime, but in fact made crime worse by locking up minor offenders who become career criminals in jail. For the past decade, Baltimore has created an environment for youth which centered on incarceration and neglected their needs. What we are seeing in Baltimore today is the ramifications of these policies, youth handed in jail without alternatives, and the City Council wants to double down on the same policies which caused this crisis.
We think this bill is a tremendously short-sighted approach to stemming violence in Baltimore. This “one-size-fits-all” approach leads to severe unintended consequences (e.g. targeting those trying to protect themselves as opposed to violent criminals, constructive possession traps innocent people who had nothing to do with the weapon, etc).
Cases will be pled out to lower sentences not because of weak prosecutors/judges but because of bad policing. This is also contradictory to the recent commitments that the City of Baltimore has made to implementing the consent decree with the Baltimore Police Department. If we are seriously interested in escaping the pitfalls of previous administrations (e.g. the patterns and practices outlined in the 2016 US Department of Justice report) then we must embrace a new strategy of investment instead of incarceration.
Mandatory minimums are a vestige of the failed war on drugs and perpetuate failed, feel-good “law and order” policies instead of focusing political capital on proven crime prevention strategies such as investment in anti-violence programs, drug treatment, reentry and workforce development initiatives. Correctional policies over time produced the moment that we’re in. We are literally reproducing another population of hardened formerly incarcerated individuals that are coming back to our communities.
Furthermore, in a majority Black city, Baltimore has never invested in Black people are in close proximity to violence and making them the leaders of the anti-violence strategy for Baltimore.
Why aren’t we investing in people like Ericka Bridgeford’s grassroots #BaltimoreCeaseFire movement to stop the culture of violence in the city?
Why is Safe Streets Baltimore consistently given crumbs from the city budget when they are experts in the area of anti-violence?
Why has the the Kujichagulia Center been shut down due to inadequate funding when they’ve redirected dozens of shooting victims to direct services?
The are so many Black leaders and organizations who are directly dealing with the issue of violence. The solution to violence in Baltimore is investment, not incarceration. This bill is merely a knee-jerk response from anxious politicians on the eve a gubernatorial election year. This is BAD POLICY for Baltimore and will only further entrench the racist policing practices that the city says it is trying to end.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The hearing for this bill will be happening on July 25 @ 10am in City Hall. The bill will be heard in front of the Judiciary & Legislative investigations committee.
The next step is to bring the bill before the full body at its August 14 meeting @ 5pm at City Hall.
We encourage all concerned Baltimore residents to show up to this meeting and voice their OPPOSITION to this bill.
We’ll be updating this post on when the bill is going to be heard in front of the full City Council.
You should also email/call YOUR councilman TODAY and tell them vote NO on this bill.
Click here to find out who is your Baltimore City Councilman.