If you’re like me, you were taught that slavery ended with Emancipation Proclamation. Then Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus and the Civil Rights Movement began.
It wasn’t until adulthood when I realized that I had only a vague understanding of a large part of our history, and that what I was taught regarding slavery in this country was only a part of the story. Continue reading
The voices of young people can have the power to revive and transform Baltimore, starting with its very infrastructure. In Baltimore, transportation creates obstacles for its residents, and this is no less true for its young people. Late buses, skipped stops, and rude drivers are major barriers to students getting to school on time. Continue reading
Editor’s note: In conjunction with OSI-Baltimore’s forum series, The Burden of Bail, Audacious Ideas is pleased to feature a month-long blog series about pre-trial detention and bail reform. This is the last post in the series.
It can be fairly said, the events of the past four months have advanced in a positive way, the right to counsel in Maryland. The plaintiffs, public defenders and advocacy groups in the Richmond litigation and before the legislature have shed light like never before on the unfairness and injustices in the pretrial detention of poor people in the State of Maryland. Continue reading
Editor’s note: In conjunction with OSI-Baltimore’s forum series, The Burden of Bail, Audacious Ideas is pleased to feature a month-long blog series about pre-trial detention and bail reform. Over the next month, four experts will talk about what can be done to make our pre-trial justice system fair and efficient.
The Supreme Court has held that a person cannot be sentenced to even a single day in jail if they are convicted of a crime unless they are afforded representation at trial. Yet in far too many places in the country, and throughout all of Maryland, people are arrested and remanded into custody in a proceeding without the benefit of counsel. Continue reading
Editor’s note: In conjunction with OSI-Baltimore’s upcoming forum series, The Burden of Bail, Audacious Ideas is pleased to feature a month-long blog series about pre-trial detention and bail reform. Over the next month, four experts will talk about what can be done to make our pre-trial justice system fair and efficient.
I remember when my elementary school teacher explained the US system of justice to us during Civics class. “Justice is blind,” she said, “everyone gets treated the same, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.” Yet as you read this, more people are held in jail in America simply because they cannot afford to pay their bond set by the court than for any other reason! Continue reading
During his visit to Baltimore yesterday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a gift of $5 million to the Open Society Institute-Baltimore for its Accelerated Pathways Initiative. This five-year initiative will create rigorous, supportive and accelerated high school options in … Continue reading
Editor’s note: In conjunction with OSI-Baltimore’s upcoming forum series, The Burden of Bail, Audacious Ideas is pleased to feature a month-long blog series about pre-trial detention and bail reform. Over the next month, four experts will talk about what can be done to make our pre-trial justice system fair and efficient.
You probably thought that in 2012, Maryland indigent defendants would be guaranteed counsel when their liberty is first at stake. Not so. Continue reading
According to the Just Kids Report, each year Maryland charges 1,250 youth as adults with little concern or attention to the stain this places on the life of a young person. Youth charged as adults are forced to carry the burden of a felony for the rest of their lives. Continue reading