Maryland's Youth Charging Reform Act takes effect amid debate over juvenile crime

The Youth Charging Reform Act is now in effect, changing how Maryland charges young people with certain crimes.

Under the new law, theft will join several other offenses — including first-degree assault and certain gun and drug charges — that will begin in juvenile court rather than automatically being handled in adult court.

The law took effect on Oct. 1 as debate continues over how Maryland should balance accountability, rehabilitation and public safety in cases involving juvenile offenders.

More than two dozen offenses committed by juveniles are still automatically charged in adult court.

Advocates for the new law say Maryland has historically overcharged young people in the adult system, which they say can lead to more trauma and recidivism.

Some law enforcement leaders, however, say the law could make it more difficult to hold young people accountable and could create public safety concerns.

Police say streets may become "more dangerous"

WJZ's Tara Lynch spoke with Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley, who said he believes the juvenile justice system is already struggling to handle the number of cases it receives.

"I think it's going to make the streets more dangerous because now our young people who get charged with a handgun automatically start in the juvenile system," Worley said. "It's going to give a system that most of us agree is already broken responsibility for more individuals."

On Thursday, Baltimore City police said they arrested 11 teens ranging in age from 14 to 17. They were charged with offenses including car theft, assault, destruction of property and probation violations.

Of the 11 juveniles, one was wearing an ankle monitor and three had prior arrests, police said. All were being held at the Juvenile Justice Center.

Maryland Transit Administration police also arrested two other juveniles in Baltimore City in connection with a robbery investigation.

In Northwest Baltimore, two juveniles crashed a stolen vehicle into a motorcyclist at the intersection of North Dukeland Street and West North Avenue. The 69-year-old motorcyclist died at a hospital.

According to security video, a male and female juvenile got out of the stolen vehicle and fled on foot. The female suspect was arrested and was among the 11 teens police arrested Wednesday.

The incident came one week after four juveniles were in a stolen vehicle that crashed into an MTA bus in East Baltimore, sending 16 people to the hospital.

Worley said he hopes the new law will balance accountability, public safety and rehabilitation, but he remains concerned about how the changes will affect the city.

"The biggest fear for me is that now we're going to have adults using juveniles as pawns for their crimes," Worley said.

Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates said in a statement that he was among 23 prosecutors statewide who opposed the law.

"The General Assembly chose not to listen and forged ahead despite what residents across Maryland were crying out for," Bates said. "Our attention has now turned to our respective offices to ensure that our Juvenile Divisions are prepared to handle the expected changes and the potential increase in cases and workload."

Family of 3-year-old killed by teen calls for accountability

Last week, the family of 3-year-old Jordan Bright spoke about the juvenile justice system and called for greater accountability for young people.

"Jordan will never get another chance at life, but throughout this process we have watched the juvenile justice system give chance after chance to the person who took hers," Jordan's mother, Nyjada Billy, said.

Billy spoke after the 14-year-old who struck and killed her daughter while driving a stolen car learned his sentence.

"He can receive treatment, he can go home, he can eventually move forward with his life. Jordan cannot. And that is the part of this system that we cannot accept," Billy said.

The teen was prosecuted in juvenile court.

DJS says it is ready to help youth

Advocates for the law say it gives judges more authority over whether a case should remain in juvenile court rather than allowing prosecutors to determine that automatically.

Under the new system, state's attorneys can file a waiver if they believe a case should be moved to adult court. A judge then decides whether the case should be transferred.

At a rally celebrating the law Thursday, the Youth Justice Coalition said most of the cases affected by the changes eventually end up in the juvenile system anyway. Advocates said the new process could allow young people to avoid being held in adult jails while awaiting their cases and connect them with services sooner.

"Most of those young people, for the offenses that the law is changing, have those cases come back to the juvenile system anyway. We're serving them today. We've been serving them. We're going to continue to serve them," Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Betsy Fox-Tolentino said.

The Department of Juvenile Services said it has added intervention programs and other resources for young people, including multisystemic therapy for emerging adults and credible-messenger life coaching for high-risk youth.

The department has also added staff to work directly with local law enforcement and increased the number of employees monitoring electronic monitoring systems.

"We put in a lot of work over the past year to make sure we build out a continuum of services," Fox-Tolentino said. "We've seen the improvement really go up to nearly over 90% of our young people who are on electronic monitoring are successful. That means they're not reoffending. They're getting to court."

The new law applies to cases filed on or after Oct. 1.

Advocates said they plan to push for additional changes to Maryland's juvenile justice laws during the 2027 legislative session, including removing more offenses from the automatic adult-charging list.