March 25th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
With support from conflicted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the state Senate voted unanimously to approve legislation Thursday that would enact sweeping changes to Maryland's criminal justice system.
The bill would push more low-level drug offenders into treatment instead of prison, allow more people to expunge convictions from their records, let some offenders out sooner and reduce the time that parole violators spend behind bars.
While there was broad support from Republicans and Democrats for the concept, several members of both parties expressed concerns. Some advocates of criminal justice reform have said changes made in committee would result in less savings and a smaller drop in the prison population than previously estimated.
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