Maryland Gov grants parole to juve LWOPers, marking first such parole in state in nearly a quarter century
I am pleased to report on this Baltimore Sun article headlined "Larry Hogan grants parole to juvenile lifers, the first time a Maryland governor has done so in decades." Here are details:
For the first time in 24 years, individuals sentenced to life in a correctional facility for crimes they committed before turning 18 are being paroled by a Maryland governor. The action by Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, hasn’t been exercised since the administration of William Donald Schaefer, Maryland’s governor from 1987 to 1995. It comes after courts have weighed in on juvenile sentencing and state lawmakers have attempted to remove the governor from the process in recent years.
Hogan’s decision to implement parole for juvenile lifers comes after 24 years of rejections for this group by the previous three governors, a trend that started with Gov. Parris Glendening in 1995. “The governor talked about this issue in his original campaign, and it’s something that he gives serious attention to,” Hogan Administration Deputy Legal Counsel Chris Mincher said in an interview with Capital News Service.
Navarus Mayhew, 42, is scheduled to be released this month after 24 years in prison for first-degree murder, robbery and gun charges. Robert Davis, 54, who served 37 years for first-degree felony murder and handgun charges has been recently released, a Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman said Thursday. Shawn Delco Goodman, 42, will likely be released in December after 27 years behind bars for first-degree murder and robbery charges, according to Maryland Parole Commission records. Hogan approved paroles for two of the men and allowed the third to happen without his signature.
Prisoners sentenced to life in prison as both adults and juveniles have been released through other measures of executive clemency, like commutation, which allows the governor — rather than the parole commission — to set the terms of release. Until the Hogan administration, parole hadn’t been implemented for any lifer — adult or juvenile — since Gov. Schaefer, a Democrat and Glendening’s immediate predecessor. A number of inmates’ life sentences had been commuted, however....
In 2016, the ACLU of Maryland filed a federal class action lawsuit against Hogan on behalf of the Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative and three incarcerated juvenile lifers. The three juvenile lifers in the ACLU suit are not the 2019 parolees. The lawsuit states that Maryland’s process of juvenile lifer parole denied “meaningful opportunity for release,” therefore violating constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
There are currently more than 300 individuals sentenced to life who are imprisoned for crimes they committed before the age of 18 in Maryland facilities. The ACLU suit is pending....
Hogan has commuted the sentences of four juveniles and 17 adults as of last month, and has approved parole for eight adult and three juvenile lifers. Nine other individuals were released for medical parole. This happens when a lifer is chronically ill and expected to die, and are no longer considered a threat to society. They are released to a hospital, hospice care or family members....
There have been attempts to remove the governor’s hand from the state’s process in recent years. In 2017, parole reform legislation that would dismiss the governor from the process was passed in the state House of Delegates, but failed to advance in the Senate. This past session, a similar bill made little headway in either chamber.
Legislators are turning their eyes to 2020 — some with the hope that more advancement could be made this time around. The bill’s former House sponsor, Del. Pam Queen, D-Montgomery, said in an interview with Capital News Service last month that there are plans for similar legislation in the upcoming session, and is looking to the Senate and its new president, Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore, to determine what will or won’t make it through....
In 2018, Hogan signed an executive order addressing juvenile lifers specifically, requiring that the governor weigh the same elements as the Maryland Parole Commission when considering parole, as well as the inmate’s age at the time of the offense and any signs of maturity or transformative rehabilitation.
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