Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) sits in front of committee vice chair Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Montgomery) and fellow committee member Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City). Photo by Danielle E. Gaines.
Republicans on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee cried partisanship Thursday as their Democratic counterparts consistently shot down their amendments to two major pieces of police reform legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick) asserted that the committee has devolved into the most “rancorous, bitterest politics,” which he said has gotten in front “of what is good policy.”
“And when I was a member of the House you would often more likely see that, but the Senate is an exception and JPR had been an exception,” he said. “I’ve crossed party lines many times on this committee, trying to do what’s right, but the problem is there’s not a willingness on the other side to work on these issues anymore.”
Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City), a stalwart police reform advocate, said that Hough is “fortunate” if this was the first time he’s felt that there was partisanship on an issue that came before the committee.
“For many years, I’ve seen and felt the sting of this legislative body not honestly dealing with police reform and some justice issues as they need to be dealt with,” she said. “It’s been a burden on me as a legislator. It’s been a burden on the impacted people that have come down to this body, year after year after year, and begged and pleaded with us to give them some modicum of understanding, sympathy and justice under the law.”
