Cleaning Up Maryland’s Correctional System’s Corruption

Senate Republicans Propose Multiple Methods to Address Entrenched Organizational Corruption within Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services In response to last Thursday’s briefing before the Legislative Policy Committee, Senate Republicans today requested in a letter to Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller that the legislative panel investigating the ever-widening web of allegations of deep-seated corruption in Maryland’s prison system be given broad powers to perform its duties to continue the work of a federal investigation into the Baltimore City Detention Center. That inquiry resulted in the indictments of thirteen guards for offenses like drug trafficking and money laundering, among other crimes, and it uncovered the sad and terrible reality that the jail was not being controlled by the correctional officers but rather by the inmates themselves. These findings have prompted the presiding officers of the General Assembly to appoint an investigational task force charged not only with scrutinizing the Baltimore City Detention Center scandal first, but also with attempting to uncover any other corruption within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Senate Republicans have lauded the appointment of the task force but argue that three key measures must be taken to ensure that the ultimate goal [...]