One change grafted onto the bill is a version of Senator Zirkin's separately introduced bill, SB 890. That bill would allow for the expungement of all misdemeanor convictions and is opposed by the State's Attorneys Association. The version of this bill incorporated into SB 1005 was presented on the floor of the Senate by Senator Zirkin without any explanation and without any acknowledgment that such a change was not one of the consensus recommendations of the Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council on which the rest of the bill was based. Of particular concern is that this provision would expunge second degree assaults, a violent crime deemed to be nonviolent in one arbitrary list of violent crimes in one section of Maryland's laws and deemed violent in another. Convictions for domestic violence fall under second-degree assault. Second degree assault, a non-sexual crime, is also too often a plea bargain down from a sexual crime. This plea bargain allows a sex offender to avoid registering under the sex offender registry statute...
...It should be incumbent upon legislators, at the very least, to understand and properly consider why each crime on the list was chosen for expungement by Senator Zirkin and whether, more importantly, expungements should even be endorsed, let alone a part of this bill. Unfortunately, the reform bill passed the Senate with only a one sentence description and without one question about this provision on the floor. The General Assembly needs to remove this harmful provision before full passage of the Justice Reinvestment Act.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-reform-letter-20160329-story.html
"Unfortunately, the reform bill passed the Senate with only a one sentence description and without one question about this provision on the floor." This is the mode of operation of the legislature, but sadly it does not stop here for they inject additional loopholes at the last minute.
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