By Piper Sartison
Elm Staff Writer
The Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative intends to address the state’s mass incarceration of Black men.
On Wednesday, Oct. 25, Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown discussed the initiative of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative in a news conference. The organization intends to tackle the issue of disproportionately incarcerated marginalized groups, aiming to reduce the already staggering amount of incarcerated Black Americans.
In an article published by WBALTV, Lisa Robinson said that Maryland “incarcerates the highest percentage of African Americans in the country.”
According to Robinson, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said “African Americans comprise about 30% of the state’s population but make up 72% of the state’s prison population.” This crisis has largely gone unnoticed.
One of the main incentives of the organization is to target the motivations of mass incarceration within the prison system.
As stated in an article published by The Washington Post, Ovetta Wiggins writes that Brown and Dartigue “assembled a group of academics, advocates and others involved in studying and working on the grass-roots level to reduce the mass incarceration of Black men, and tasked them with providing a comprehensive list of recommendations to address the problem by the end of 2024.”
Overall, the announcement provided the state with an overview of the issue and steps on how the leaders were going to address it.
Brown believes that Marylanders must recognize the crisis, as citizens must be aware of the concerning statistics regarding incarcerated Black men. According to Brown, within the state of Maryland, Black men are seven times more likely to be falsely convicted of a crime.
As published in a CBS article, Christian Olaniran writes that “the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative will work to address mass incarceration through a series of committees that will address specific issues that contribute to incarceration rates. A representative from the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of the Public Defender, and a community partner will lead each committee.”
The organization aims to have complete plans of recommendations and proposals by the end of 2024. For some, this may seem like an extensive and prolonged plan. However, the committee is motivated to tackle a multitude of factors that have contributed to the state’s high level of incarcerated Black men. To develop a cohesive and effective plan, they must take time in analyzing every aspect of the deeply rooted issues within the prison system.
The announcement and initiative of the project is a strong step in addressing systemic racism within the state of Maryland. Citizens must raise awareness over these statistics regarding convicted Black men, as the statistics are deeply concerning. Overall, reformation will take time and patience however, we should be pleased that change is finally beginning to be discussed.
“This announcement represents, for me, what I believe — in the 25 years that I’ve been in service to the state of Maryland, the people of this country — will be the most impactful initiative to change the lives of Marylanders,” Brown said.
The Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative will help to build a more hopeful future for the citizens of Maryland. The government is slowly beginning to address the deeply rooted issues of systemic racism within the state. However, we must be aware that the process will take awhile to unfold.
A start in the right direction begins with the acknowledgment of oppression of Black men within the prison system. Following this realization, and after the initiative is formed, citizens of Maryland will slowly begin to see some form of reformation happen. Overall, this is good news, as it leads the citizens of Maryland to believe that there is hope for the future.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo caption: The fight against mass incarceration in the United States is both far from new and far from over.