Tag: police accountability

Getting to Progress From No

| by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

One of the many things Pete Rawlings taught me when he was chair of the Appropriations Committee:

“You have to learn how to say ‘no’ to people.”

No doesn’t always mean nothing.

In the give and take of the fiscal limits of the budget, of the differing views on an issue, compromise is needed.

What does that mean today?

Speaker Jones has created a Work Group To Address Police Reform

and Accountability.

Senator Will Smith, chair of the committee that considers such legislation in his body, has outlined the reforms that the bill he’s introducing.

This means that legislation making major changes is certain to be enacted.

The Speaker has appointed me to the work group.

I am concentrating on applicant screening so that biased people are not accepted, a duty to intervene when another officer is violating the law, and how best for police to work with mental health and social workers in crisis situations.

Governor Hogan has suspended evictions until later this month. If he does not extend that prohibition, there could be a flood of homeless people.

I am drafting legislation that would protect the rights of tenants to a lead-safe home and working with Attorney General Frosh on funding for lawyers for tenants so that the laws we pass are put into effect.

“We will support locally-driven economic development and commit to directing a significant portion of clean energy and sustainable infrastructure investments to historically marginalized communities to help create local jobs and reduce energy poverty.”

That’s not part of the Green New Deal. It’s a policy statement resulting from negotiations between the Biden and Sanders campaigns.

It’s the basis for legislation that I have requested.

Some believe we should go further in the changes we make in the three areas I’ve discussed today.

My goal is to make serious progress.

Police Accountability, Having a Lawyer and a Laptop

| by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

What will the General Assembly do about police accountability? 

That’s the issue that’s receiving the most attention and justifiably so. 

Speaker Adrienne Jones has appointed a work group to study the issue and make recommendations for legislation. 

Senator Will Smith chairs the committee that will hear such legislation and has written a letter outlining the provisions in the bill that he will introduce. 

Both of these actions mean that a major overhaul of our laws will be enacted next session.

I serve on the Speaker’s work group and will be working to achieve that end. 

I’m also working on other issues where the pandemic and the death of George Floyd have heightened our awareness of inequities based on race and class. 

Attorney General Brian Frosh has created the COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force.

I’m serving on the Civil Legal Aid Funding Committee

This is an opportunity to provide an attorney for tenants in housing court and for the poor in other legal matters.

I’ve been working on this for quite some time.  The pandemic and the task force have brought attention to this issue. 

Over these past three months, I’ve frequently thought about how little work I’d be able to do if I didn’t have a laptop and Internet access. 

For far too many students learning at home, those are not givens. 

I’m working with people who have studied the issue to see how the state can provide these resources. 

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You can speak with Dr. Letitia Dzirasa,, Commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department on our 41st District Town Hall Thursday  evening from 5:30-6:30.  For details on this Zoom meeting, contact Dalya.Attar@house.state.md.us.

The Right Policy and the Right Fix

| by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

TTo pass a bill, you need the right policy and you need the votes. 

Your bill must require, fund, or prohibit what’s in the public interest.  It must improve the situation it addresses. 

And a majority of your colleagues must agree. 

That’s the case if your bill speaks to a neighborhood problem. 

That’s the case with abortion rights and the death penalty – two of the issues that I’ve worked on over the years. 

Congressman John Lewis was asked if “there were any flaws in the original Voting Rights Act.”

He replied, “I think the original drafters of the act, those members were trying to get a bill through Congress that would be supported by the majority.  But we need to fix it.”

https://medium.com/new-york-magazine/john-lewis-will-never-lose-hope-14a545c527c7

Speaker Adrienne Jones appointed me to the Workgroup to Address Police Reform and Accountability in Maryland.

We need to fix our police system, and we need to fix the racial and other inequities in our society

Yesterday was the work group’s first hearing.

I can be most effective by concentrating on certain issues. 

Both were raised at the meeting:

            A police officer should have a duty  to intervene when another officer is acting improperly.  How do you define that duty?  Should there be incentives to intervene and protections for doing so?

            How and when should a police department screen for implicit bias in a job applicant?  It’s better to address this problem at the outset than after an incident. 

My suggestion: what have other states done in these two areas?  We can learn from their experience. 

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You can speak with Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on our 41st District Town Hall Thursday evening from 5:30-6:30.  For details on this Zoom meeting, write JGreenfield@house.state.md.us or call 410-664-2646.

  • My Key Issues:

  • Pimlico and The Preakness
  • Our Neighborhoods
  • Pre-Kindergarten
  • Lead Paint Poisoning