Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signs juvenile justice legislation, state budget, and bills in honor of Pava LaPere

BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson signed the state budget as well as other legislation Thursday that will expand the list of criminal charges that can be filed against 10- to 12-year-olds.

“This is probably one of the most controversial and hard issues that we have because, at the end of the day, we’re talking about kids,” Ferguson said at the final bill-signing ceremony of 2024. “We’re talking about kids who need the supports and diversion and accountability to change their trajectories.”

Moore, Jones and Ferguson, all Democrats, signed House Bill 814 — a broad bill that will create a council to study juvenile justice data and best practices, increase communication between government agencies that directly interact with children involved in the criminal justice system, increase oversight measures for the Department of Juvenile Services, codify a state-run program for minors most likely to be victims or perpetrators of gun violence, and allow police to charge children ages 10 to 12 for certain firearm offenses, aggravated animal cruelty and using a weapon or threatening or physically harming someone while also committing sexual assault.

The bill, which was supported by Maryland state’s attorneys and law enforcement, has frustrated lawmakers and advocates who say that it rolls back policies enacted through the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2022. Under that law, children between 10 and 12 can only be charged with crimes deemed violent under Maryland statute, like carjacking, murder and rape.

Those in opposition say that not enough time has passed to examine the effects of the 2022 law.

“Our governor and state leaders know that kids need support and services, not punishment and incarceration, and that this bill will prolong the shameful record of racial disparities within Maryland’s juvenile justice system,” the Maryland Youth Justice Coalition said in a statement Thursday. “We have a right to expect better than this.”

Jones said young children who are alleged of committing offenses on the newly expanded list of applicable charges “need a juvenile system that acts swiftly, shares information, makes better decisions and is accountable.”

“Despite all that has been written and said about this bill, it really comes down to some basic facts: Children in the system do not have clear pathways to rehabilitation, and there is no meaningful oversight of this process,” she said. “House Bill 814 acknowledges this reality and says we want to help.”

The portion of the legislation creating the council will take effect June 1. The remaining measures of the bill will go into effect in November.

The speaker acknowledged that reform of the state’s juvenile justice system goes beyond the controversial bill, as seen in the state budget she, Ferguson and Moore signed Thursday.

Though the purse strings were tighter this year because federal pandemic dollars have ceased to flow, Jones said that lawmakers managed to “invest $16 billion in our children” — $1 billion of which will be funneled toward intervention programs.

“We are ensuring that accountability comes with an investment in rehabilitation,” she said.

The trio also signed legislation to create the Maryland Entertainment District Security Grant Program, which will allow community organizations and local governments to apply for funding to increase security in entertainment districts across the state where higher-than-average calls for police assistance are placed.

Another grant program was signed Thursday in honor of Pava LaPere, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who was killed in Baltimore last year.

The Pava LaPere Legacy of Innovation Act, one of the 16 bills in Moore’s legislative package this year, will establish two funding programs — the first for student entrepreneurs attending colleges and with businesses in Baltimore, Columbia and Towson; the second for students and faculty at local universities who are creating technology startup companies.

Moore, Jones and Ferguson signed a second bill in LaPere’s honor to prohibit people convicted of first-degree rape from earning diminution, or “good time,” credits to shorten their prison sentences.

Jason Billingsley, who is accused of killing LaPere, was previously convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to 30 years in prison with all but 14 suspended in 2015. He was released early in 2022 after earning diminution credits.

Billingsley will stand trial in August.

LaPere’s father, Frank LaPere, attended Thursday’s ceremony. Moore, who was friends with his daughter, gave LaPere two pens — one for each bill.

The governor said he keeps two framed pictures LaPere’s parents gave him when cleaning out her apartment on his desk. One is of blighted vacant houses in Baltimore. The other — the same houses, rebuilt.

Moore said that LaPere had them hung on each side of the hallway, so that walking out of her apartment “she understood the Baltimore that she was walking into” and “remembered the Baltimore that she was fighting for” when walking in.

“Now they’re sitting above my desk as a reminder of not just that we have to make sure that the thing that happened to Pava never happens again, but never forget her light,” Moore said. “Never forget what she fought for.”

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