Maryland's juvenile justice laws again face scrutiny from top state prosecutors

Chris Papst | Fox 45 News | Wednesday, July 16, 2025 | Original Source

Towson, Md. (WBFF) — Does Maryland need to revisit juvenile crime laws to hold young people accountable for potential crimes? Juvenile Justice laws were significantly changed in 2022. And then revised in 2024. Now, some say, major revisions are still needed.

January 5, 2023, at MacArthur Middle School, in Anne Arundel County. A school resource officer confronted a 12-year-old boy after a loaded handgun, extra magazine and lose ammunition were discovered in the student’s school bag. The weapons were quickly confiscated. But the student faced no criminal consequences.

“They could not charge him,” stated Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger. “We can't take them to court. And if you can't take them to court, you can't get them the help that the court system is designed to give.”

The reason the student at MacArthur Middle was not criminally charged for taking a loaded handgun to school was because of a law passed one year earlier.

The Maryland General Assembly, in 2022, passed the Juvenile Justice Reform Bill, which, in part, raised the minimum age at which juveniles can be charged with certain crimes to age 13.

Proponents of the bill argued that Maryland was criminally overcharging young people.

“I can tell you right now, we are not going to prosecute our way to a safer community,” Maryland Attorney General Anothony Brown said at a town hall meeting in January 2023. “We just won’t.”

“The issue in Maryland is that we were over-prosecuting children, treating children as adults too often and also over-incarcerating children,” former Senator Jill Carter said of the bill in 2022.

But after the law passed, many Maryland leaders felt it went too far. So, in 2024, the legislature revised the law, allowing children between the ages of 10 and 12 to be charged with certain crimes including handgun violations and third-degree sex offenses. But juveniles under the age of 13 still cannot be charged with many crimes. And it’s having an impact.

When your kid goes to school and doesn't feel safe, that's an issue,” said Julie Wilson a Washington County parent.

Wilson’s 12-year-old daughter attends Western Heights Middle School in Washington County. This past school year, Wilson says her daughter was the victim of a fourth-degree sex offense. But the alleged assailant is 12 years old, and the family cannot take legal action. Under the revised Juvenile Justice Reform law, juveniles under 13 cannot be charged with a fourth-degree sexual offense.

“That's predatory behavior,” remarked Wilson. “And if he just is allowed to do this and nothing happens, what is he going to do when he is older? And it's teaching my daughter that it's just okay, he can do these things to her and there's no consequences.”

“What do you say to families that are going through a situation where they want to hold someone accountable, but they can't?” Project Baltimore’s Chris Papst asked Shellenberger.

“I say you're going to have to get the law changed. So that you can get the kind of justice, help and relief that you and your family deserve,” Shellenberger replied.

In 2024, Shellenberger, along with State’s Attorneys from Baltimore City, Howard County and Prince George’s County, argued that the 2022 Juvenile Justice Reform law should be repealed, not amended.

“I would have liked it if they had changed everything back,” stated Shellenberger.

To this day, Shellenberger still favors a full repeal. And he hopes the Maryland General Assembly will eventually agree. So, families can seek justice, and the alleged assailants can get the counseling or supports they need.

“The juvenile system is entirely designed to get help for the juveniles and even their families,” explained Shellenberger. “So that the more minor crimes they commit at the age of, say, ten through 14, don't turn into major ones when they're 15 or 16 or 17. It's incredibly important because if I can get the courts to help a 12-year-old, then we might not be seeing them over and over and over again.