Public Safety & Criminal Justice

Mary-Dulany James has a proven record of being tough on crime and recognizing the importance of putting public safety at the forefront of our policies and budget. Having passed historic anti-gang legislation in both 2007 and 2010, Mary-Dulany James has shown her strong commitment to keeping children and families safe.

The anti-gang legislation she worked to pass makes it easier for prosecutors to target gang kingpins and get them off the streets. We have an obligation to help young boys and girls through their formative years and part of that duty is keeping them away from those who intend to harm them or recruit them for participation in illegal activities. Harford County is fortunate to be home to Boys II Men, a program designed to provide guidance in making good life choices for young men throughout the county. Mary-Dulany worked closely with Pastor Reeves, the director of that program, in crafting the anti-gang legislation in a way that helps those young people who can be rehabilitated and keeps hardened criminals out of our schools.

Mary-Dulany James knows that the best way to solve a problem is to take action before it starts. It was with this mindset that she helped secure $40 million in funding to establish a program that helps at-risk youth. The program helps temper the potential criminal activity of these young people by establishing mechanisms for early intervention to help guide them down the right path before it is too late.

The following is a partial list of some of the additional bills that Mary-Dulany James has supported to protect our communities and our children;

2013
- Abuse or Neglect of Vulnerable Adult and Medicaid Fraud
  - Adds abuse or neglect of vulnerable adults and offenses relating to Medicaid fraud to those crimes for which evidence may be gathered
- Requirement to Report Death or Disappearance of Minor
  - Prohibits parent or other person in custody of child from failing to notify law enforcement within 24 hours if child younger than 13 is missing. Imposes punishment of 3 year sentence if found guilty
- Seizure and Forfeiture of Property Used in Human Trafficking
  - Authorizes state and local law enforcement to seize property in connection with human trafficking, established procedures for such seizures. Includes offenses such as human trafficking, sexual solicitation of a minor, child porn, receiving earnings of prostitute, and abduction of child under 16
- Elimination of Defense of Age for Human trafficking of a Minor
  - Prohibits a person charged with a specified human trafficking offense involving a minor from asserting the defense that the person did not know the age of the victim
2012
- Justice’s Law
  - Expands the list of people who can be convicted of first-degree child abuse and increases the maximum penalty where abuse results in death
2011
- Misdemeanor of Child Neglect
  - Establishes the misdemeanor of child neglect and provides sentencing information
- Restrictions Against Use and Possession of Firearms
  - Expands to all firearms the prohibition against use in the commission of a crime of violence of felony, increasing the maximum term of imprisonment applicable
- Identity Fraud – Assumption of Identity of Fictitious Person
  - Prohibits a person from knowingly and willfully assuming the ID of a fictitious person to avoid identification for a crime, or with a fraudulent intent, or to avoid payment of a debt
2010
- Jessica’s Law Enhancement
  - Increases maximum and mandatory minimum sentencing penalties for a person convicted of rape or other sexual offense in the second degree of a child under 13
- Assault of Law Enforcement Officers
  - Prohibits intentional physical injury to a victim, where person knows or has reason to know victim is a law enforcement officer