When will Maryland start all juvenile cases in juvenile court? Unfortunately not soon.

Maryland’s 2023 legislative session has ended, and it is time to take account of legislative casualties. One such casualty was House Bill 96/Senate Bill 93, the Youth Equity and Safety Act, which was stalled in committee. This is a juvenile justice bill championed, respectively, by Del. Charlotte Crutchfield (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City), that would end, once and for all, the automatic charging of youth who commit any one of 33 offenses as if they were adults. It would end a practice that has failed young people and our communities.