In Maryland, organizers fight to give juvenile lifers some measure of hope

Sonia Kumar, senior attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, explains the movement to restore the parole option to people sentenced for serious crimes in childhood.

by Eddie Conway July 12, 2021July 12, 2021

ENFIELD, CT - MAY 03: Incarcerated military veterans walk to the dining hall at the Cybulski Rehabilitation Center on May 3, 2016 in Enfield, Connecticut. The Veterans Unit houses some 110 prisoners, all U.S. military veterans convicted of crimes ranging from petty larceny to murder and typically with less than two years left on their sentences. The unit is part of a Connecticut Department of Correction program to turn some prisons into reintegration centers to prepare inmates for successful re-entry into society. Criminal justice and prison reforms are taking hold with bi-partisan support nationwide in an effort to reduce prison populations and recidivism. The state's criminal justice reforms fall under Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy's "Second Chance Society" legislation. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Sonia Kumar, senior attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, explains the movement to restore the parole option to people sentenced for serious crimes in childhood. Kumar notes that in Maryland, juvenile lifers are mostly Black, and says that the laws keeping them behind bars without possibility of parole are remnants of the tough-on-crime stances of the 80s and 90s.

Eddie Conway

Executive Producer
Eddie Conway is an Executive Producer of The Real News Network. He is the host of the TRNN show Rattling the Bars. He is Chairman of the Board of Ida B's Restaurant, and the author of two books: Marshall Law: The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther and The Greatest Threat: The Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO. A former member of the Black Panther Party, Eddie Conway is an internationally known political prisoner for over 43 years, a long time prisoners' rights organizer in Maryland, the co-founder of the Friend of a Friend mentoring program, and the President of Tubman House Inc. of Baltimore. He is a national and international speaker and has several degrees.

More by Eddie Conway

Keep reading for free.

Subscribe to our newsletter:

Never miss a story.

Subscribe to our newsletter today:

Related

Eddie Conway