By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Maryland’s Office of the Public Defender, joined by state lawmakers and community leaders, rallied Jan. 21 at Lawyer’s Mall in Annapolis to unveil the agency’s 2026 legislative agenda, calling for sweeping reforms to Maryland’s legal system.
The agenda centers on public defense funding, youth charging reform, child welfare investigations and ending minor traffic stops. The rally was held under the theme, “We Defend Rights. We Protect Childhood. We Demand Justice.”
Natasha Dartigue, Maryland’s public defender, said the priorities reflect long-standing systemic failures that disproportionately harm families and children.
“We are tired of standing next to a 16-year-old being sentenced as an adult, before anyone has even proven what they’ve been accused of,” said Dartigue. “We’re tired of watching mothers break down because their caseworkers are knocking on the door without first reading the file and understanding what is happening in that family. We are tired of explaining to Black fathers why a license plate light just cost them their dignity in front of their children during a traffic stop.”
“We’re here today to face it,” she added. “To speak with truth and conviction as to what Marylanders need to know and hear and what our dedicated representatives here in Annapolis, Md. need to do in the remaining 83 days of session.”
Speakers emphasized the disproportionate impact of minor traffic stops on Black Marylanders, citing statewide and county-level data.
In 2024, White drivers made up 57 percent of Maryland’s driving population but received 25 percent of all traffic citations, while Black drivers accounted for 30 percent of drivers and 57 percent of citations, according to MOPD.
“In Hartford County, Black residents make up 16 percent of the population, yet they account for almost 40 percent of all traffic violations,” said Deb Levi, MOPD strategic litigation. “When you look at just expired registration, 49.5 percent of those citations go to Black people. In Wicomico County, Black people make up about 28 percent of the population, but yet they’re subject to over 50 percent of all the traffic violations.”
Lawmakers also highlighted the agency’s push to end the automatic charging of youth as adults in Maryland.
“In Maryland, we charge children as adults first, and then they have to go to a hearing to be transferred back to juvenile jurisdiction, even though 85 percent of those kids end up back in juvenile care,” said State Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Md.-32). “Some kids are staying in adult detention for 900 days. That’s not just days, that’s years.”
In addition to policy changes, leaders pressed for full funding of the Office of the Public Defender, which is proposed at approximately $170 million in the governor’s fiscal year 2027 budget.
“I’ve brought to the attention of my colleagues, for many years, the issue of the disparity in salaries and the issue of a lack of funding for the necessary technology for the Office of the Public Defender,” said State Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Md.-39), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “We are going to ensure that we are working with MOPD and other stakeholders so that public defenders have the resources they need to ensure they are representing their clients to the best of their ability.”