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Just hours after the Senate approved the Second Look Act, the House on Thursday quickly accepted Senate amendments to the bill that gives a second chance to long-serving incarcerated individuals and sent the measure to the governor for his signature.
It capped months of emotional, and often personal, debate on House Bill 853, which critics said would bring needless new suffering to victims of crime, but supporters said would provide a deserved second chance to those in prison who had turned their lives around.
The Senate on Wednesday, by a one-vote margin, approved an amendment that would make the Second Look Act unavailable to anyone convicted of killing a first responder in the line of duty.
That cleared the way for the Senate to approve the bill 31-16 and send it back to the House, which had approved the bill two weeks ago, on an 89-49 vote. House members voted 89-47 for the amended bill Thursday night and sent it to the governor.
Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County), the lead sponsor of the House bill, was not a fan of many of the amendments the bill picked up along the way, but said after Thursday’s vote that “you have to start somewhere.”
“I am looking forward to these people who are willing to be out in our communities, helping some of these young people who feel alone and abandoned … Now some of these people will be able to make a difference in their lives,” she said.
Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) said the bill is about protecting those who are prison, but who are innocent.
“This is about people who languish in our state prisons for decades for a crime they didn’t commit,” Acevero said. “Where is the compassion for them? Where is the justice for those folks? I heard none of that from the minority party in the entirety of the debate on this bill. This is what you call legislating for the innocent.”
House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R-Frederick) responded, telling Acevero, “I always enjoy when you get up.”
“You just made an assertion on the floor that every single person locked up for killing someone, killing a kid, killing police officers are all innocent, according to your speech … So, I take offense that,” Pippy said looking Acevero’s direction.
“We have folks that have done very bad things and they’re incarcerated for it, and we don’t want those individuals getting out and revictimizing a whole bunch of other people,” Pippy said.
Under the bill, some people who have served at least 20 years of a prison sentence could petition the court for a sentence reduction. That option would not be available to someone sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or to a sex offender — and, after the Senate amendment, to someone convicted of killing a first responder, like a police officer, firefighter or paramedic.
The bill had already been narrowed once from the version Pasteur had drafted, limiting the second chance in the act to those convicted of a crime they committed between the ages of 18 and 25.
An individual who appeals to the court for a reduced sentence and is denied would have to wait three years before filing another petition. Prisoners could file up to three petitions, but “an individual may not file a fourth motion to reduce the duration of the sentence,” according to the bill.
Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s), who voted against the bill Thursday, sponsored the Senate amendment Wednesday to put the act out of those convicted of killing a first responder “in the line of duty.” That amendent passed on a slim 24-23 margin.
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) said people convicted of violent offenses who had harmed others ‘on purpose” could receive a second look under the bill.
“We’ve done a lot to try to reform the criminal justice system in this state. This body, I think, has gone too far,” Ready said during Thurday’s nearly 25-minute debate in the Senate. “These were people convicted as adults of very serious crimes. They should not get a second look that’s really a 17th or 18th look.”
The bill’s supporter have long said that it is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for what opponents call the worst of the worst, but something for those who have really turned their lives around.
Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), defended the bill Wednesday, highlighting how courts can assess several factors to determine whether someone incarcerated has earned a reduced sentence. Some factors would include a person’s age at the time of offense, demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation and that person’s family background.
On Thursday, Sydnor stood in the Senate and highlighted that all victims’ families “are not a monolith.” He began to choke up when he recalled the summer of 1991, when his cousin was shot in the head.
A few years ago, Sydnor said a session ended to honor another cousin who suddenly died around Sydnor’s birthday.
“The story goes in my family he died of a broken heart. His brother was murdered,” Sydnor said while choking up. “If these people, whoever committed those crimes, showed that they did what they needed to do to reenter society, I’d welcome them with open arms. As I said yesterday, this is about grace. I stand on that.”
