A Collaborative comprised of the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Public Defender, and representatives of dozens of organizations and agencies published its first-ever report on Thursday.

The aim of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) is to find ways to address the racial inequities seen in mass incarceration in the State.

According to the report, while Black Marylanders make up 30% of the State, they make up 71% of the incarcerated population in the State.

The group spent over a year researching and coming up with recommendations and have come up with 18 detailed in this report.

The recommendations are split into seven categories.

The report delves into the historical background that has led to our current situation, going all the way back to the establishment of the Maryland colony in 1634 and the immediate establishment of enslavement.

"Maryland's colonial government formalized slavery by enacting laws imposing punishments intended to maintain a tight grip on the Black population," the report reads. "The abolition of slavery in 1864 did not dismantle the racial hierarchy that had been established over centuries in Maryland. Instead, new systems of control emerged."

The historical discussion covers the weaponization of the legal system against Black Marylanders after the Civil War, through the Jim Crow era, redlining, the school-to-prison pipeline, the disparities in health access, and the criminalization of poverty.

The report moves on to current policies and practices and how they are disproportionately impacting Black Marylanders.

This includes practices such as racial profiling, which can be seen in arrest data, where Black people are almost twice as likely to be arrested than White people.

Systemic biases can also be seen in pretrial detention and bail practices.

"Specifically in Maryland, Black people are detained pretrial more often than White people," the report reads. Bail is also consistently set higher for Black defendants than White defendants and sentences tend to be longer for Black defendants when looking at national data.

"Achieving meaningful change will depend on confronting the historical injustices that shape present outcomes and implementing the reforms recommended in this report, which are grounded in the analysis and data provided," the MEJC Report concludes. "These actions represent a critical step toward dismantling structural barriers, ending mass incarceration, and ensuring a more equitable future for all Marylanders."