Martin O'Malley

From 1999 forward, a thousand fewer black men died violent deaths in Baltimore thanks to the biggest ten year improvement in public safety of any big city in America. 52 days into office as Governor, we closed the most notorious and violent prison in our state, the Maryland House of Corrections.

By the time I left office as Governor in January, we had reduced violent crime to a 35-year low in Maryland, we reduced recidivism by 15 percent, we reduced our incarceration rate to a twenty year low, And we reduced new prison admissions by 19% compared to ten years before.

How?

By doing the things that work, like expanding reentry programs, dramatically increasing drug and mental health treatment, expanding education and workforce training inside the wall, giving ex-offenders an ID card before release so that they can apply for jobs, housing, and benefits.

We also did this by doing away with the things that clearly did not work: we decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and we restored voting rights to 52,000 citizens with old felony records. Not on our first try, not on the second try, but finally on the third try, we abolished the Death Penalty in Maryland.