By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Advocates from across Maryland rallied outside the State House in Annapolis on Feb. 9, urging lawmakers to advance the Fair Chance Housing Act and the Clean Slate Act (HB 360/SB 483). Supporters say the legislation would reduce barriers to housing, employment, and stability for people with past criminal records.
Hosted by a broad coalition of community and advocacy groups, the rally highlighted bipartisan legislation aimed at improving public safety by expanding access to stable housing and automating record sealing for eligible formerly incarcerated Marylanders. Hundreds of people attended, braving freezing temperatures.
“The process in which a person has to go through to get a charge expunged stops a lot of people because of the length of the process,” said Shyheim Washington, a leader of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), one of the event’s main hosts.
The Fair Chance Housing Act, which has not yet been introduced this session, would specifically limit the use of background checks in rental applications and enhance access to stable housing. In previous years, the bill has included
Under the Clean Slate Act, once a charge becomes expungeable, it would automatically be removed from an eligible person’s record, reducing administrative and financial hurdles for people seeking employment or housing.
Washington shared how his own incarceration shaped his involvement in the effort.
“I did eight years of incarceration,” he said. “Coming home from incarceration, it was difficult for me to reintegrate mentally, spiritually and physically due to barriers that were put in front of me.”
He said he struggled to find livable-wage employment and housing and faced difficulties removing expungement-eligible charges from his record. Washington said he was ultimately able to secure livable-wage employment through Turnaround Tuesday, one of BUILD’s institutions.
Washington also pointed to the scale of the issue facing Maryland communities.
“We have 100,000 returning citizens in Baltimore alone in a population of almost 600,000,” he said. “That’s a sixth of the Baltimore City population that have a criminal background.”
Those barriers disproportionately affect Black communities. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, while Black Americans make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, they represent roughly 37 percent of people held in jails or prisons.
“The necessity is there,” said Washington. “We have to address people who are coming home and their reentry.”
Other advocates echoed those concerns, emphasizing the challenges faced by people returning from incarceration.
“No one should have to face a second sentence when they come home through housing discrimination,” said Gary Mitchell, a program director for Shore Legal Access, a nonprofit affiliated with BUILD. “They’ve served their time and they’re trying to make a positive impact on society.”
Mitchell said he experienced those barriers firsthand after returning home from incarceration in 2022.
“I had to take a job for $13 an hour full-time, and my mom had to get me that because I couldn’t even get employed for mass merchandise or fast food with my record,” he said. “When I got a few dollars saved up and enough to do security deposits I went to a couple of places to try to get housing and the first one denied me point-blank due to my background.”
After submitting multiple applications, paying fees and facing repeated denials, Mitchell said he eventually found a property manager willing to work with him, with support from family members. Advocates stressed that many people lack the time, financial resources or family support needed to overcome those barriers.
Advocates also addressed concerns from critics who argue that expungement laws could limit background checks, complicate risk assessments for landlords and employers, reduce accountability or overlook victims’ concerns.
Mitchell said he understands the concerns, but the bottom line is that people leaving incarceration will eventually return to society and need a place to live if they are to make a positive impact.
“Our mission is simple,” said Sheena Meade, CEO of The Clean Slate Initiative, a national nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform. “Once someone with an eligible record has paid their debt to society and remained crime-free for a certain period of time, there should be systems in place that automatically clear their record.”
Clean Slate legislation has been introduced in 13 states including Washington, D.C. Meade is hoping Maryland will be the 14th.
Meade emphasized that the clean slate initiative is about humanity.
“Let’s be mindful and not reduce someone to ‘a felon,’ ‘a criminal,’ or a ‘convict.,” she said. “Voters deserve better.”