Senate committee moves Second Look Act one step closer to final passage

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee advanced the Second Look Act Friday on an 8-3 vote, putting the House bill one step closer to final passage. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)

After an hour of robust debate, a Senate committee advanced a House bill Friday that would let some long-serving incarcerated individuals to ask a judge for a second chance at life.

By an 8-3 vote, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved the Second Look Act, which would let individuals who have served at least 20 years in prison petition for a reduced sentence.

The bill sponsored by Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County) passed the House on March 17. Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County) sponsored a version in his chamber, but the Senate will work off Pasteur’s bill.

A similar bill passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House.

This year’s bill would apply to anyone sentenced for a crime committed between the ages of 18 and 25, who has served at least 20 years of their sentence. Those incarcerated would need to wait five years to petition the court again if they were turned down the first time, and those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or a convicted “sex offender” would not be eligible.

Sen. Chris West (R-Baltimore and Carroll) said he has reservations about the age restrictions — those 18 to 25 should know right from wrong, he said — but he still voted in favor of it.

“Many will call, many will knock on the door, but not that many will be let out by the judge because it all depends on what you’ve done in the intervening 20 years,” West said after the Senate adjourned Friday afternoon.

“Does the judge really believe that you’ve reformed and you’re longer a threat to society? I think we need to give them [those incarcerated] some consideration,” he said.

Others worried that the bill would give a second chance to individuals charged with murder and other violent crimes.

“I would probably support this bill if it took out murder … and some of the violent crimes,” said Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D-Harford), who voted against the bill in committee. “That’s where I think it’s a bridge too far.”

Supporters of the bill have stressed this “isn’t a get out of jail free card” because it doesn’t guarantee everyone incarcerated will be freed from prison.

The bill would apply to an estimated 350 people. If a court decides to grant parole, it can order the paroled individual to “stay away from and refrain from contact with a victim and victim’s family … unless the victim requests otherwise.”

A victim or a victim’s representative would be able to submit an impact statement to the court “regarding the impact of the crime and the proposed sentence reduction.” Those statements can “carry weight” in court, said Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the committee, who voted in favor of the bill.

But Sen. Mike McKay (R-Garrett, Allegany and Washington) said the bill would simply “revictimize, revictimize, revictimize, revictimize.”

“I believe that we are in the business of correcting and rehabilitating people, but not at the expense of increasing the amount of time to revictimize,” McKay said before he voted against the bill.

Sydnor, who voted for the bill, said it attempts to strike a balance for victims and rehabilitation.

“This bill is really about mercy and grace for someone who has been incarcerated for a minimum of 20 years and who has shown or demonstrated that they have rehabilitated themselves,” he said. “It’s just a second look. Judges aren’t being forced to release anyone.”

Sen. William G. Folden (R-Frederick) cited families such as Richard and Dawn Collins, who traveled to Annapolis in January to testify against the bill on behalf of their son, Richard W. Collins III. He was visiting a friend at the University of Maryland, College Park, when he was fatally stabbed in a racially motivated hate crime in May 2017. The stabbing took place a few days before he was set to graduate from Bowie State University, where he was in the Army ROTC.

“This bill would undermine the small justice and the loss of her [Dawn Collins] up-and-coming second lieutenant son, going to make a difference,” said Folden, who voted against the measure.

Folden said Richard “told his mother the world would know his name. We know his name because his parents come down here and advocate on his behalf because he’s no longer here.”

Meanwhile, the bill’s racial equity impact note notes that incarcerated Black prisoners could receive the most benefit.

As of Jan. 1, the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services reported that 12,675, or 72%, of those incarcerated in the state’s prisons are Black; the state’s Black residents accounted for 31.6% of the state’s overall population in 2023.

Of the total 17,586 individuals incarcerated in the state, about 1,303 are serving life sentences and 331 are those without the possibility of parole.

“Black inmates would experience the most significant impact given their overrepresentation in the State’s incarcerated population,” according to the note.

The full Senate could debate the measure sometime next week. It would have to act before April 7, the last day of the legislative session.

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