Public safety issues, particularly around firearms, juvenile justice, police accountability, and court procedures, will continue to be a priority for stakeholders during the 2025 legislative session.

Gun Laws

With a little over two years having passed since the landmark Bruen ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, the Maryland legislature has slightly more to go on in terms of the types of gun laws that will be able to stand up to the new standard. As previously covered on Conduit Street, following the ruling, any new gun laws must be consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. And state lawmakers have since vowed to see how the court cases shake out and go back to the drawing board.

From the 2025 DLS Issue Papers:

The legal landscape surrounding firearms post-Bruen will likely remain contentious and evolving as courts and lawmakers continue to work to balance Second Amendment rights with public safety concerns. Maryland could see a range of legislation during the 2025 session to address firearm-related issues.

New legislation from the 2025 session is still likely to be challenged in court, but the U.S. Supreme Court recently took two actions that foreshadow the type of laws that could stand up to the Bruen test. A recent ruling in a U.S. Supreme Court case upheld a law that banned firearm ownership for an individual who is the subject of a domestic violence restraining order. Additionally, the high court decided not to hear a challenge to a local gun law in Anne Arundel that requires retailers in the county to distribute pamphlets created by the Anne Arundel County Health Department that offer information regarding suicide prevention, mental health, non-violent conflict resolution, and gun safety. This signals that the highest court could be willing to uphold provisions specific to the type of risk an individual poses and requirements like providing educational information and increased mandates regarding warning labels for dangerous products.

Juvenile Crime and Justice

The 2025 DLS Issue Papers also covered recent changes and developments in juvenile justice from the most recent legislative sessions. The report highlights that although major changes have been made, there continues to be media attention around a handful of high-profile incidents with youth offenders in the last six months.

Issues surrounding juvenile crime will likely continue to be of interest to the General Assembly and may result in additional proposals during the 2025 legislative session. Of note, the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging and Best Practices is expected to begin meeting before the end of calendar 2024 to, among other things, research culturally competent, evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices relating to (1) child welfare; (2) juvenile rehabilitation; (3) mental health services for children; and (4) prevention and intervention services for juveniles. The commission’s work may be influential to future legislation.

While state and local agencies have been in the process of making procedural changes brought on by the additional juvenile justice reforms passed during the 2024 legislative session, more emergency provisions were enacted over the legislative interim. These emergency changes were made to the State code, and requires school superintendents to share information on transfering students with any school district receiving a transfer student with a record of reportable offenses. Additionally, and as previously covered on Conduit Street, 43 states considered juvenile justice legislation in the last year, particularly around the increasing incidence of younger offenders committing more serious crimes in greater frequency.

Police Oversight and Accountability

Police accountability has not been a major topic for the last couple years since the large police reform legislative package was passed in 2021. Since then a handful of bills have been proposed that would continue to make adjustments to police oversight and accountability mechanisms but there have not been any substantial efforts comparable to that of 2021. Of those that were proposed, the primary efforts have been focused on police immunity and procedures for the police accountability board process.

With new police oversight protocols substantially in place, the likelihood of more police immunity bills coming back is slight, however, the bills concerning how misconduct cases are handled could be reintroduced in order to refine the new procedures now that implementation is complete. Bills from prior years concerning timelines for charges and procedures for the Administrative Charging Committees and Police Accountability Boards are likely, and, in  some cases, add more clarity and accountability to the misconduct review procedures.

Adjustments to the Child Victims Act

As anticipated the Child Victims Act has been contested in the state courts and a decision on a portion of the bill from 2023 is pending. The provision that allows for cases that were previously time-barred to be revived is the language currently being considered by the Supreme Court of Maryland.

In response to growing recognition of the delayed disclosure of child sexual abuse, Maryland enacted the Child Victims Act of 2023. The Supreme Court of Maryland is currently considering whether the Act’s retroactive revival of previously time-barred civil claims violates the State’s Constitution.

As previously covered on Conduit Street, oral arguments in the case went on for more than three hours in September. A court decision will be available in the coming months, and depending on the timeline and outcome, lawmakers in Annapolis might make some clarifying changes to that legislation.