It’s Time to Break Maryland’s Poverty to Prison Pipeline

A new report from the Job Opportunities Task Force shows the many ways Maryland’s criminal law system ensnares people who are struggling to get by on low incomes—especially Black and Latinx Marylanders—pushing many into prison and ultimately making it harder to attain economic security. Policies that criminalize poverty undermine economic opportunity and needlessly waste public resources on prisons and court costs. This is a gross miscarriage of justice. There are many steps policymakers can and should take to break the link between financial hardship and criminalization.

Simply by living their lives, low-income Marylanders and Marylanders of color are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system, by no fault of their own. For example, in a state with limited public transit options, driving is a necessity. Three-quarters of working Marylanders commute by car each day, including two out of three Marylanders of color and 60 percent of low-income Marylanders. But not everyone who drives in Maryland faces the same legal hazards. According to the state’s data, 38 percent of traffic stops in Maryland involve a Black driver, even though African Americans are only 29 percent of the state’s adult population. And low-income Marylanders who tend to drive older cars are more likely to have a broken tail light or other equipment violation, which together lead to more than 100,000 traffic stops each year. If the driver is unable to pay a fine on time—or if the officer cites “suspicion” to seize cash or other assets—a traffic stop can generate much more serious consequences.

Traffic stops are just one of many ways our criminal law system puts marginalized Marylanders at risk. Others described in the report include unrealistic child support orders, escalating penalties for unpaid fines, and predatory collection practices by private lenders.

For someone with little financial margin for error, even a minor brush with the law can put economic security further out of reach. For example, if you can’t afford to pay a fine from a traffic stop or keep up with child support payments, the state can suspend your driver’s license. If you drive to work, there’s a good chance that this penalty will cost you your job. Similarly, if you don’t have paid time off at work, a court date can lead to unemployment. The financial consequences of incarceration are even more severe. Between the lack of willing employers and the heightened risk of low wages, one study found that returning citizens earn 40 percent less each year than otherwise similar workers who have not been incarcerated. These barriers create a destructive feedback loop in which poverty leads to arrest, which in turn deepens poverty.

There is much that the state can and should do to break this link. Here are a few of the top recommendations from the Job Opportunities Task Force report:

• End the use of driver’s license suspension as a penalty for not paying fines or falling behind on child support. This practice senselessly cuts people off from jobs and opportunity.
• Base traffic fines on a driver’s ability to pay, allow payment in installments, and let people request community service as an alternative to fines. It’s possible to enforce traffic laws without unduly burdening low-income drivers.
• Expand education and job training opportunities in prison. Ultimately, the state should sharply reduce the number of people it puts behind bars, but the least we can do in the meantime is to ensure incarcerated Marylanders have a shot at a good job when they get out.

Ensuring that Marylanders don’t wind up in court or in jail simply because of their income or their race would strengthen economic opportunity and allow the state to invest more in the building blocks of prosperity like strong schools and safe roads—not prisons. Most importantly, it’s a moral imperative.