Commentary

As briefly satisfying as it may have been to watch some Big Tech CEOs squirm under a bipartisan grilling from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday — including an outright apology from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to parents who say social media contributed to their child’s exploitation and, in some cases, death — it’s also fair to wonder if a dysfunctional Congress is capable of doing much about online youth safety.

Given the public’s continued concern about youth crime in Maryland, it was no surprise that top Democrats in Annapolis — including Gov. Wes Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones — formally unveiled plans to strengthen accountability in Maryland’s juvenile justice system. But make no mistake, their idea of accountability centers on improving outcomes for all.

For decades, Baltimore residents have been living next to vacant properties that damage their homes and health and put their homeowners insurance at risk of cancellation. The presence of vacant properties makes neighborhoods less safe and stable. For children in those neighborhoods, living in substandard housing or even walking past rows of vacant properties day after day impacts their learning.

Instead of walking through the doors of a Montgomery County high school, I was a teenager walking through prison gates. I was called a menace to society and told I deserved to die in prison. I spent a decade in solitary confinement. Decades later, I’m now a husband, father and leader in community care initiatives. I stand among many others who, given a chance, have proven capable of leading a productive, fulfilling life.

I applaud Gov. Wes Moore for introducing mental health legislation (Senate Bill 453 and House Bill 576) to establish assisted outpatient treatment in Maryland to help save the lives of our loved ones with SMI. Unfortunately, it is too late to save my beloved son, Ben, who had serious mental illness, and tragically died on Dec. 8, 2023, at the age of 35. On Dec. 4, four days before Ben’s death, he was found unconscious from an anoxic brain injury on a Baltimore street without identification and admitted as a John Doe to the same hospital where he had recently, and voluntarily, received psychiatric treatment for a month. He was discharged on Nov. 27.

The Maryland Homeowner Assistance Fund represented a lifeline for low-income residents at risk of losing their homes. The fund officially spent or allocated all the $185 million it was provided by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to assist homeowners with mortgages, reverse mortgages, homeowners insurance, water bills, property taxes and home ownership association fee defaults.

Recent legislation proposed by Gov. Wes Moore and leaders of the Maryland General Assembly that directly contradicts the progressive juvenile crime agenda of the Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi highlights the issues that arise when major political appointees are woke, misguided and too soft on crime. After an enormous amount of public pressure, leadership in the Maryland General Assembly and Governor Moore have recently introduced new legislation with the goal of ensuring that children who commit crimes are held accountable for their actions and that they are rehabilitated to an extent to which they can become productive members of society.