The Maryland House of Delegates passed House Bill 853 on Monday after a lengthy debate on the floor that had themes of religious faith and redemption. Known as the Second Look Act, the legislation would allow judges to take a “second look” at sentences for some young people who were given lengthy sentences.

Unequivocally, the answer to whether this should happen is yes.

For years, legislation similar to this bill was debated in the legislature, and until last year was unable to even make it out of committee. Last session, the bill known as the “Second Chance Act” got tossed around like a football before making it out of the Senate and back to the House for passage before the clock struck midnight on sine die — killing it.

This year, the bill sponsor in the House, Baltimore County Del. Cheryl Pasteur, a Democrat, and members of the Judiciary Committee decided to simplify the legislation by simply extending the terms of a law the body passed in 2021, known as the Juvenile Restoration Act.

The new bill applies to people who have served at least 20 years in prison who were either convicted as adults for a crime committed when they were a minor or were convicted of crimes committed when they were between 18 and 25 years old.

Under the legislation, these individuals could file a motion to reduce their sentence. The court can reduce that person’s sentence if that person isn’t a danger to the public or if a reduced sentence would better serve justice.

For the past couple of years, the issue of juvenile crime has become a hot topic in media coverage in Maryland. While the initial crimes committed by people who may appeal to have their sentences taken a second look at can be severe, H.B. 853 has less to do with the initial criminal act and more to do with the legal remedies it offers to those who have very limited opportunities for relief.

Offering individuals a second look is an added form of relief that many can benefit from — after serving a substantial portion of their sentence and demonstrating their changed behavior.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, two state prosecutors in Maryland who support this legislation, have been making reasonable arguments for the past year as to why state legislators should fight against the ill-conceived and narrow-minded arguments being made by those who believe atonement and rehabilitation are inconsequential.

As these two prosecutors have argued, they haven’t denied justice to the victims of these crimes, as their offices were responsible for garnering the conviction and lengthy sentence in the first place. But they recognize that there are individuals who may have committed an action at an early age that was based on impulse control issues and not malicious intent, or those who were convicted for being present at the horrific crime — but not the shooter — yet held to the same standards of the killer nonetheless.

As mentioned frequently by delegates in favor of this legislation, this is not a get out of jail free card. It merely gives the individual the ability to file for relief after serving two decades in prison, showing a judge their ability to demonstrate maturity, rehabilitation and the willingness to follow the rules by showing their actions over 20 years via their institutional record.

One example of how this bill makes sense — and how those who have been convicted of malicious acts can have their lives turned upside down and come out a better person than when they entered the prison industrial complex — is someone whose case we have all come to know very well.

Adnan Syed, who just had his sentence reduced via the Juvenile Restoration Act by Judge Jennifer Schiffer last week, would not have been eligible for that relief had the date of his crime been a few months later. Syed, who was 17 years old when he was charged with the murder of Hae Min Lee, would have had the Second Look Act as his only relief if he had been 18 at the time of the crime. A matter of a few months determined his freedom in his case. Now is the time for Maryland to get it right by offering these young adults the ability to have the courts give a second look at their conviction and sentence. Second chances are not given to make things right but rather to prove that we can be so much better. This legislation does just that, both for the criminal justice system as well as the offender.

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