In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the criminal justice system in Maryland is taking steps to depopulate jails and prisons to help reduce the risk of exposure to the disease. In Baltimore, the City’s attorney’s office and the police have stopped prosecuting some low-level offenses. They have dismissed a number of cases and eliminated a number of open warrants. They have also provided for the early release of hundreds of prisoners and updated their bail policies so that only people who are a public safety threat or confined.

According to The Crime Report, the jail population in Baltimore has been reduced by 45%. Furthermore, “Baltimore County announced that it would stop charging individuals the home detention fees associated with being monitored while awaiting trial, joining 15 other Maryland Counties that do not charge these fees.”

Legislators in the state of Maryland are considering laws that would end home detention monitoring costs and would prohibit state-funded pretrial services from charging defendants.

In the interim, Crime Report recommends that Baltimore City follow the lead of Baltimore County, other Maryland counties, and other locations across the country, by ending the ability to charge people who can’t afford the cost of the home detention monitoring.

What is home detention?

Home detention is an alternative to incarceration for parties facing a trial, who are not deemed a flight risk. Prosecutors can recommend to a judge that a defendant be confined to home, and wear an ankle bracelet to monitor their whereabouts. This alternative is used as a way of reducing the prison population while protecting the public by ensuring that defendants who might be a flight risk or a safety risk stay at home.

In Baltimore City, most home detention services are managed by companies that charge individuals anywhere from $11 to $17 a day for home monitoring. As of February 2021, more than 600 Baltimore City residents are on home detention. The companies that run these programs are thus making between $2 million to $4 million a year for the city of Baltimore alone.

Home detention fees cause more harm than good

One fundamental problem with the electronic monitoring program is that it penalizes poor people. Defendants who are found not guilty and who were on the monitoring program do not get their money back. This means many innocent people end up indebted to these for-profit companies.

As the number of unemployed people grows due to the pandemic, District Attorney Mosby is encouraging municipalities to do more to help the poor avoid further debt so that they do not have to choose between having a place to live and being in jail.

Attorney Joseph Carey is a strong advocate for defendants across Maryland. For nearly 40 years, he has fought to help obtain bail for his clients. He fights to keeps his clients out of jail by working to obtain dismissals and acquittals of criminal charges. If you’ve been charged with any crime, call Carey Law Office in Bowie or Crofton at 301-464-2500, or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation today.