Friend,

October is Youth Justice Action Month, which means we've been very busy with our Maryland Youth Justice Coalition work – we’ve been talking to our neighbors in Baltimore, organizing to protect our kids’ rights, and gearing up for the 2024 legislative session! The MD Youth Justice Coalition, or MYJC, is one of our biggest advocacy projects. We’re so proud to do this work in partnership with local leaders, public defenders, national advocates, and so many more. Together, we can and will make Maryland’s communities safe for all of us, especially our kids.

We all deserve safe communities. Especially our kids! Kids have rights. Law enforcement should respect and protect kids‘ rights. Kids need services, not handcuffs. Kids who receive care and services are much less likely to commit crime. Kids don’t belong in the adult system. Maryland will be safer when we stop automatically charging kids as adults. Kids need us to invest in them. Kids deserve care and safe communities – even when they make a mistake. But right now, Maryland’s justice system is failing our kids. Young people are facing unprecedented violence and discrimination, both in the legal system and outside of it. While youth crime rates have fallen over the last ten years, the number of young people who were victims of gun violence has quadrupled. We can do better. We need your voice in the fight for our kids.

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