In Zadeh v. State (No. 11, Sept. Term 2022, Opinion by Hon. Andrea M. Leahy), the Appellate Court of Maryland (ACM) remanded the case – yet again – because the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the voluntariness of Zadeh’s statement to police. Before reaching...
Judge Alexander Williams Jr., interviewed Steve Mercer recently on the podcast Perspectives on Justice about parole, pardons, and commutations. Here is an excerpt in which Steve discusses an issue that is profoundly troubling: The irrational failure of the criminal...
On April 18, 2020, Governor Hogan issued an Order “Implementing Alternative Correctional Detention and Supervision” related to the COVID-19 crisis in the Department of Corrections. The Governor’s Order provides certain inmates with (1) expedited release; (2) expedited...
In 2016, the Legislature enacted the Justice Reinvestment Act, 2016 Md. Laws Ch. 515, SB 1005, (“JRA”) which, among other criminal justice reforms, reduced the ten (10) year maximum penalty for the non-violent offense of felony theft to five (5) years. The JRA also...