Maryland’s budget deficit looms large as the major issue of the 2025 Legislative Session, and rightly so. While the members of the Joint Republican Caucus are ready to offer solutions to our budget challenges and fight back against tax and fee increases, this will not be our sole focus this session. As we have done in the past, the members of the House and Senate Minority Caucuses will offer common-sense legislation that will make our communities safer.
The horrendous murder of Rachel Morin in 2023 has forever left an imprint on her Maryland community. While there is comfort in the fact that a suspect is awaiting trial, her family is forever changed. Unfortunately, in Maryland, this case is not unique. There is a list of victims whose lives have been cut tragically short by violent criminals who were in this country illegally – Jeremy Poou-Caceres (age 2), Kayla Hamilton (age 20), Limber Lopez Funez (age 15), and Dania Cruz-Mejia (age 18). This has to stop.
Our state’s lax immigration policies are a danger to Marylanders. According to the recent Gonzales Poll, the majority of Marylanders across the political spectrum support cooperating with federal immigration authorities. The members of the Joint Republican Caucus will offer legislation to do just that. The Protecting Marylanders from Violent Offenders Act of 2025 requires law enforcement and corrections officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and transfer undocumented immigrants to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when requested if the undocumented immigrant was convicted of a violent crime, terrorism, participation in a criminal street gang, or an aggravated felony such as trafficking drugs or firearms.
In another effort to make our communities safe, we have to make sure those convicted of the most violent acts serve the sentences completely. Last session, the family of Pava LaPere successfully advocated for a change in Maryland law that would prohibit diminution credits for those convicted of first-degree rape. Maryland law still allows for the application of diminution credits for individuals convicted of first and second-degree murder. Jason Billingsley, the man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Pava LaPere, was given three life sentences. Still, under current law, those serving life sentences are eligible to earn diminution credits. This year the Joint Republican Caucus will offer the Real Time for Violent Crime Act of 2025 which will eliminate diminution credits for first and second-degree murder.
Juvenile crime is still impacting our communities. Just last week, two teens were arrested in connection with an armed carjacking that occurred in broad daylight. While crime in Baltimore dropped in 2024, juvenile crime increased significantly. In November, juvenile carjackings had increased 233% compared to 2023, juvenile robberies were up 44%. Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates has reported that juvenile crime arrests increased 146% in 2024. Maryland has got to get a handle on juvenile crime.
We have no confidence that Juvenile Justice Secretary Vincent Schiraldi is the person for the job and have called for his resignation or dismissal. Secretary Schiraldi is not the only problem; the General Assembly’s passage of soft-on-crime legislation has also contributed to this spike in juvenile crime. Last year there were efforts to fix some of the problematic changes to juvenile justice laws, but an important element was left out. Maryland’s changes to juvenile interrogation procedures have made it increasingly difficult for law enforcement officers to do their jobs.
Last year’s shooting at Joppatowne High School illustrated the danger posed to the community when law enforcement officers are prevented from questioning juvenile suspects. Police have been unable to locate the firearm used by the 16-year-old juvenile to shoot and kill the 15-year-old victim in the restroom of Joppatowne High School.
Law enforcement involved in the investigation pointed to Maryland’s child interrogation laws as the chief roadblock in locating that firearm. The Joint Republican Caucus will offer the Juvenile Justice Restoration Act allowing law enforcement to question juveniles with parental consent, putting this important tool back in the hands of those who keep our communities safe.
It is also important that juveniles in the custody of the state are safe and protected. We have read the heartbreaking reports of abuse at juvenile facilities across the state from the 1980s into the 2010s. We have also seen the troubling reports of convicted violent criminals working at the highest levels of the Department of Juvenile Services.
Violent criminals should not have access to or power over our children, period. As we work to rehabilitate juvenile offenders, we must also keep them safe. The Juvenile Offender Protection Act will prohibit those convicted of the worst violent crimes (murder, sexual assault, child sex offenses, human trafficking, etc.) from being employed by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.
As we have said many times, it is a fundamental job of government to keep its citizens safe. The Joint Republican Caucus of the Maryland General Assembly takes this responsibility seriously and, in good faith, offer these common-sense solutions to protect our communities.
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