A federal judge this week dismissed – at least for now — civil rights claims brought against state prison personnel by the family of a prisoner beaten to death by his cellmate in a western Maryland penitentiary. Benjamin Hall’s family ...

Tagged with: 14th Amendment deliberate indifference Eighth Amendment prison safety

A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of a Howard County Detention Center detainee after a nurse at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang said the continued detention of Mauricio Coreas  at the Jessup ...

Tagged with: due process Eighth Amendment maryland courts covid-19 prisoner's rights

Citing the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a coalition of civil rights groups has urged Maryland’s top court to order judges and state agencies to quickly reduce prison and jail populations to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 ...

Tagged with: ACLU Eighth Amendment inmates maryland courts covid-19

Maryland’s top court Wednesday put to work its landmark August decision upholding the constitutionality of life sentences for juvenile offenders as it agreed to hear three convicted lifers’ appeals but then summarily affirmed their punishments.

Tagged with: Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile offenders Larry Hogan life sentences

Saying murder victims' loved ones have a right to finality, a Maryland victims’ rights group is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the pending resentencing of a man serving a life-without-parole sentence for committing sniper-style slayings in the Washington area in 2002, when he was a teenager.

Tagged with: Eighth Amendment juvenile lifers lee boyd malvo Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center Miller v. Alabama Montgomery v. Louisiana

A sharply divided Maryland high court Wednesday upheld life sentences for juvenile offenders, saying they have a constitutionally required 'meaningful opportunity' for release based on their maturity and rehabilitation behind bars.

Tagged with: Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile offenders Larry Hogan life sentences

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order Friday stating he will give juvenile offenders serving life sentences a “meaningful opportunity for release” based on their demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation while in prison – standards set by the ...

Tagged with: cruel and unusual punishment Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile crime Larry Hogan

ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Court of Appeals should set parole-reviewing standards to ensure that people sentenced as juveniles to life in prison have a “meaningful opportunity” for release based on their maturity and rehabilitation behind bars as required by the ...

Tagged with: cruel and unusual punishment Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile crime

Maryland’s top court will consider whether a man sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the brutal slayings of three people and the attempted murder of two others while a juvenile was improperly granted a motion ...

Tagged with: cruel and unusual punishment Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile crime

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s top court will consider whether people sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed as juveniles have a “meaningful opportunity” for clemency or parole by the state based on their maturity and rehabilitation behind bars, as required ...

Tagged with: cruel and unusual punishment Eighth Amendment Graham v. Florida juvenile crime