Political Involvement
Who are we?
Current and former members of the Legal Justice Alliance of Baltimore County (LJABC.org) include attorneys from the Office of the Public Defender, private defense attorneys, public health professionals, progressive organizers, elected members of the Baltimore County Democratic State Central Committee, and a few outspoken survivors of violence. We have organized in the past with multiple political campaigns, and against the current State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.
This Maryland General Assembly legislative session, our members have organized around such issues as:
- Ensuring Miranda Rights are preserved in the Maryland Constitution;
- In favor of The Child Victims Act of 2023: eliminating the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims, ensuring that adult survivors of child sex abuse are able to bring a civil suit against their abusers and the institutions that enabled them;
- In favor of HB 412: for the purpose of changing the definition of rape in the state statute to drop the use-of-force language and bring the statute more in-line with what the state's Supreme Court has already found to be the legal definition of rape,; and
- In favor of The Yes Act: shifting the burden of proof to state prosecutors to convince the court if a child accused of certain crimes should bypass the juvenile system and be sent to await trial in adult facilities.
Before coming to LJABC our members organized around such issues as Defunding the Police, and funding: the Mobile Crisis Unit, the Mental Health hotline, Anton's Law (Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021), the creation of local Police Accountability Boards, legalization of recreational cannabis, disability rights, and access to justice for people who's first language is not English .... to name a few.