Sentencing Commission

August 3, 2009

 

Good morning and thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to join you this morning as you kick off your annual conference. And thank you for choosing Maryland.

Let me quickly thank Secretary Maynard for personally inviting me to meet all of you and for his distinguished service to the state of Maryland.

Last week, I had the opportunity to host my colleagues from across the nation as the National Lt. Governors Association convene in Baltimore for its annual meeting, and we talked about a range of issues – health care, transportation, government efficiency. But one topic I wish we were able to talk more about was public safety. So you can tell I’m excited to be here today.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for everything you do in your states, in your communities and in your towns to keep your citizens safe. I think we can all agree – no matter our political leanings or ideology – that the most basic obligation of any government is to preserve and protect our citizens’ – our neighbors’ – safety.

That’s Governor O’Malley’s top priority, and it’s mine. And over the last three years, we’ve made a great deal of progress across our state – progress that would not be possible without the help of your colleagues.

Violent crime is down across the state. Murders declined last year by a larger margin than any other time in the last 15 years. Because of investments we’ve made in drug abuse treatment, addiction is declining in some of our most troubled parts of the state.

And, because of partnerships with local government and law enforcements that put speed cameras on our streets and tightened drunken driving regulations, we’ve seen a drop in traffic fatalities across Maryland. It wouldn’t have been possible without folks like you.

Governor O’Malley and I understand the important role that each of you play in our shared efforts here and Maryland and across the nation to lower crime and keep our neighborhoods safe.  We also understand the importance of investing in rehabilitation and future productivity.

That’s why we support programs that put troubled youth to work, to develop life skills and employment skills. That’s why our Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation offers training seminars to parolees and rehabilitated inmates.

And it’s why we support opportunities that allow inmates to “pay society back” as part of their sentence because we believe the statistics that show community service helps offenders develop work skills, gives them a shot at jobs after reentry, and, more often than not, lowers the chance that they will re-enter the criminal justice system later in life.

In Maryland, some of those “pay society back” projects include:

  • Inmates who operate a thoroughbred horse rescue farm, tending to animals that might otherwise have been slaughtered.
  • State veterans' cemeteries “employing” inmates who are honorably discharged veterans working to restore the grounds – the only the only project of its kind in the nation.
  • “Employing” Maryland inmates to clear thousands of acres of woodland and plant hundreds of thousands of trees to restore forests across the state, including at Antietam National Battlefield.
  • And the use of inmate-made oyster spat cages and planting inmate-picked and grown bay grasses to help restore and protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

These strategies and sentencing options are more important today than ever before. We all know that the current economic downturn is hitting state and local governments particularly hard, forcing all of us to do more with less. Just because these are tough times, though, we cannot abandon our priorities.

In fact, I believe that during tough times you must fight harder than during easy times to invest and protect principle priorities – especially our shared commitment to public safety. Still, these challenges have forced us to find creative ways to preserve the public’s safety without adding prison cost burdens.

In Maryland, housing an inmate in a state correctional facility costs on average $23,000 per year. But the costs increase exponentially if an inmate requires a higher security level, special diets, medical treatment. By comparison, Parole and Probation supervision costs only between $1,000 and $2,000 per year, and is much less labor intensive. These are just a few ideas and just a few observations.

Over the course of the week, you’ll share ideas, best practices and your own observations about your profession. I hope you keep an open mind and bring back new concepts; new strategies and new ideas to your states and your communities and your towns. And I also hope you take advantage of everything we have to offer in Maryland, including one or two of the countless crab shacks along the Baltimore Harbor.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your service to your communities and for everything you do to keep our neighborhoods safe. Good luck for a successful conference and I hope you come back to Maryland soon.

 

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