County Council member Wanika Fisher Put Forth a resolution for a committee to study reparations
County Council member Wanika Fisher Put Forth a resolution for a committee to study reparations
District 2 County Council member Wanika Fisher is announcing a resolution, co-sponsored by the entire Prince George’s County Council members, that would establish a committee to study reparations.
According to a press release, the resolution (CR-005-2024) will be heard before the Health, Human Services, and Public Safety Committee tomorrow (Thursday at 1:30 p.m.).
However, before the hearing, Fisher, Linda Horton, president of the Prince George’s County NAACP, Josephine Mourning, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Del. Aletheia McCaskill, the Black Caucus lead on reparations, will hold a press conference at 12:30 p.m. in front of The Wayne K. Curry Administration Building, 1301 McCormick Dr. Largo, MD 20774.
The resolution exists to “encourage the Maryland General Assembly to establish such a commission during the current legislative session.”
“The Maryland Reparations Commission (Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act) has been introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates every year since 2020, but the bill has not made it out of committee,” according to the press release.
Big News
*The Intersection published its first op-ed.
Maryland's Returning Residents Are Being Left Behind
Excerpt: In Prince George's County and across the state, returning citizens often struggle to find stable housing, lack the job skills necessary for gainful employment, or have a lack of education; and many struggle with mental health and addiction issues, sometimes with these issues above co-occurring. Some lack sufficient medical care. Some have no social or family support.
What is even more disheartening is knowing that state policymakers diverted funding away from reentry, especially with our state being in a budget deficit because wealthy corporations will lobby. Corporations do everything they can do not to pay their fair share of taxes. These taxes, when paid, would generate revenue for programs that returning residents need.
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Amplifying: Maryland’s Obsession With Trying Our Kids As Adults
Excerpt: Autocharging is a policy in Maryland where children are automatically tried as adults if charged with certain crimes, such as first-degree murder. The practice drives the high number of children tried as adults in Maryland, a state which refers more children to adult court than California, which is six times its size. “What automatic means is once you are arrested and the age is statutorily eligible, you lose all your rights as a child,” said Marcy Mistrett, senior program manager with Impact Justice, a criminal justice reform advocacy group. “You go to an adult system, you get processed as an adult, and you do adult time.”
First-degree murder is premeditated homicide, meaning the person needs to have time to think about and plan the killing. In the incident in the Harbor, video shows a group of children being moved on by a man wielding a bat, and kids responding to a conflict where tempers ran hot, opening up questions as to whether premeditation would apply in such a situation.
“I was perturbed by the state’s attorney decision to charge him with first degree murder,” Maryland state Senator Jill Carter told Baltimore Beat. “She was running for election, and she wanted to appease people who she wanted to vote for her.”