Parris Glendening on Crime Former Democratic MD Governor

Issues moratorium on the death penalty

The timing of Glendening’s “noble” announcement simply does not pass the smell test. Glendening could have imposed the moratorium at any time during his eight years as governor. Somehow, the governor’s conscience on the matter isn’t piqued until an election year, and just four days after Townsend officially announced her candidacy.

[Critics] believe Glendening imposed the moratorium at Townsend’s request, that this whole farce is her 2002 version of playing the “race card” the Democrats played in the 1998 smear campaign against Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey. [One critic says,] “It’s Townsend’s way of saying that anyone who opposes her moratorium has a ‘shameful record on civil rights.’”

Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs.

The Issue

The major crime issues for the 107th Congress will be:
• reauthorization of the juvenile justice program, which established a block grant to states for prevention and delinquency intervention programs;
• reauthorization of programs in the 1994 crime bill, including the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP), a reimbursement program to state and local governments for housing illegal alien prisoners;
• the state prison grants program, formally known as the Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) grant program, [where states receive funds based on increasing the percentage of prison sentences actually served]; and
• the Byrne block grant program, a flexible block grant that states use for innovative crime and illegal drug fighting programs.

NGA’s Position

• NGA policy calls for reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) and supports the underlying principles of the act. However, NGA wants some flexibility in the core requirements, e.g., allowing some accidental contact between adults and juveniles; expanding the hours before removal from 24 hours to 48 hours; holding certain incorrigible juveniles in detention; and relaxing the disproportionate minority confinement record keeping process. The Governors urge maximum flexibility to implement the spirit and purpose of the act.
• The Governors support authorization of the juvenile accountability incentive block grant (JAIBG) program.
• The Governors also support reauthorization of SCAAP and seek to raise the reimbursement ratio.
• For the Byrne block grant program, NGA seeks to continue the current program with flexibility.
• For the state prison grants program, NGA seeks to abolish all requirements and have more flexibility, with the state designating the offender population to be served.