Frosh Responds

A response to my column that ran in last Sunday's Washington Post has appeared in this morning's paper, and it's from none other than the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman himself, Brian Frosh.

Sen. Frosh (as well as the rest of you who read this blog) might want to look closely at some recent articles posted on diminution credits, such as this one and its sidebar (also, a newsworthy item I stumbled upon -- a child killer who had served 3.5 years of a 10-year sentence for assault and then committed that murder five days later recently died in a Hagerstown prison).

Several responses to Frosh's letter are running through my head as I write this post, but for now I am going to address the committee chairman's most blatant falsehood regarding the case of Shawn Henderson.

The column claimed erroneously that Shawn Henderson, the man convicted of murdering [Lindsay] Harvey, was on the street after an earlier conviction for violent crimes because of the state's policy on diminution credits, which reduce prison sentences in return for good behavior.

In reality, Mr. Henderson was free because the judge in the case suspended all but 10 years of an initial 60-year sentence (three consecutive 20-year terms). The judge would have been fully aware of how much time the defendant was facing in prison and when he would first be eligible for release.

Correction, Mr. Frosh: Henderson had all but 12 years -- not 10 -- of his sentence suspended when Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Durke Thompson issued that sentence back in 2000 for the robberies he committed when he was 17 years old. Thompson later reduced Henderson's sentence from 12 years to 10 at his reconsideration hearing.

But all issues regarding the controversial process of sentence reconsiderations aside, even that's beside the point. The suspension of Henderson's sentence by itself did not lead to Lindsay Harvey's murder. Henderson was sentenced in 2000. Had he been made to serve all 12 years -- or even 10 years -- of the nonsuspended portion of his sentence, he would not have been free to murder Lindsay Harvey on April 13, 2008. He would have been sitting in a prison cell that night. And Lindsay would have made it home alive.

Again, Henderson was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2000. He got out of prison on April 14, 2006, with good time credit having taken the majority of the time off his sentence. He murdered Lindsay Harvey on April 13, 2008. You do the math.

For Frosh to insinuate that Henderson was free that night because of the sentence suspension alone is ignorant at best and intellectually dishonest at worst.

Incidentally, to which piece of legislation is Frosh referring when he mentions the passing of a bill that "makes it more difficult for prisoners convicted of violent crimes to obtain early release through good-conduct credits"? That would have been helpful.

Nice try, Senator.

Henderson Sentencing Postponed -- Moore Asks To Be Sentenced as Minor

A couple of updates:

-- I learned today that Shawn Henderson's sentencing hearing -- originally scheduled for May 21 -- is being delayed at least a month or two because his attorneys want to have a psychological evaluation performed on him.

Also, Anthony Moore, the 16-year-old who was charged as an accomplice in Lindsay Harvey's murder and has since pled guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery, is now appealing to Judge Durke G. Thompson to be sentenced as a minor. This is despite the fact that Thompson ruled earlier that Moore could be tried as an adult and that Moore entered into the plea agreement as an adult. Moore was 15 years old on April 13, 2008, the night that Shawn Henderson killed Lindsay Harvey.

Something from today's Gazette that caught my eye: a Germantown, Md., woman convicted of arson three years ago just had 10 years taken off of her 15-year prison sentence for that crime, all thanks to a judge's reconsideration of her sentence. In the article, reporter Patricia Murret makes note of the controversial nature of sentence reconsiderations in Maryland.

You may remember that, in addition to the time off that Shawn Henderson received through diminution credits for the stabbings/robberies he committed back in 1999, he also had his sentence reduced by two years following a reconsideration hearing.

My Column on Dim Credits Has Been Published in the Post

I had to shorten it quite a bit, but it was indeed published in today's Metro section, page C6.

Lindsay Marie Harvey -- One Year Later

Today marks one year since Lindsay Harvey died after a convicted robber shot her and left inside a dumpster enclosure in the parking lot of her apartment complex in Gaithersburg.

Lindsay had lived here in Montgomery County for four years after moving here from upstate New York. During that time she worked as a DNA technician, then DNA analyst, for the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville. She was among 40 other analysts at the lab whose job was to help identify the remains of missing soliders from as far back as World War I.

On Saturday, April 12, Lindsay was doing what most young professionals in their mid-20s like to do -- hanging out with some good friends. And then, after the clock struck midnight the following morning, she came home.

But she never made it to her apartment door. And now, even a year later, we are still asking ourselves why and how.

Lindsay Harvey's April 13, 2008, death at the hands of Shawn Marqueis Henderson exposed serious flaws in the criminal justice system in Maryland that allowed Henderson to be free the night that he killed her instead of in a prison cell where he belonged. Her murder has prompted a movement that has forced lawmakers to reexamine the way the correctional system in Maryland handles its most violent offenders.

I have used this blog mainly to provide information and updates on this movement and other things and events related to the diminution credits system in Maryland, as well as the trials of Shawn Henderson and his accomplices. Very rarely, if ever, have I used this blog for mere pontification or posted items here that represent pure, unfiltered commentary on my part since it was started.

One reason for this is that I want this movement -- and this blog -- to be mainly about the facts regarding Maryland's criminal justice system and the ways it can and should be changed. I also want to use this blog to spur people into action and get them to write to their state representatives in Maryland so that one day we may finally see the change in the criminal justice and correctional systems that is so badly needed in what the US Census Bureau ranks as the nation's 5th most violent state.

It is not my intention to turn this blog into an ongoing obituary for Lindsay Harvey. Lindsay was a very private person, and her closest friends made it abundantly clear to me when we started this whole thing last spring that the movement needs to be about putting people like Shawn Henderson behind bars longer so that they are not released from prison before they are ready.

But there's also no hiding the fact that it is because of Lindsay that this movement is taking place. We are pushing for changes in the system in honor of Lindsay's memory, and because Lindsay herself would have been proactive had one of her friends died in such a tragic manner. And if anyone was worthy of the protection of our criminal justice system, it was Lindsay.

Lindsay Harvey lived a good life, one that she should still be living. She was a good person. She was a kind, gentle soul who did nice things for people because she enjoyed doing those things. She cared about people and respected all living things.

Shawn Henderson, on the other hand, is a vicious street criminal who cared about nobody but himself. He slashed and stabbed people after robbing them. He ruthlessly and senselessly murdered an innocent woman. And he showed his true colors in court by trying desperately to pin the blame on others for what he did to Lindsay.

The worst part of all of this, of course, is that Lindsay's death could have and would have been prevented if only those who should have known better -- especially those who preside over the legal, criminal, correctional systems in Maryland -- had shown some common sense. But even worse than that is the fact that some of the most powerful lawmakers in the state of Maryland still do not seem to be inclined to move forward legislation that would improve the system.

Shawn Henderson will soon no longer be society's problem. He will hopefully be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when his sentencing hearing takes place on May 21. Assuming that happens, diminution credits will not help him this time -- lifers without parole are not eligible for such credits.

But putting Shawn Henderson away this time for good doesn't change what happened. It won't bring Lindsay back. And it won't change the fact that scores of violent criminals in Maryland's prison system are still getting out of jail early because the credits they earn once they enter the system essentially mandate their early release.

That Shawn Henderson was free to murder Lindsay Harvey on April 13, 2008, because diminution credits helped win him his freedom after serving just half his original prison sentence will forever be a black mark on the criminal justice system in Maryland. And that will forever leave a bitter taste in the mouths of everyone who knew and loved Lindsay and knows all too well that she should still be living her life today.

The system needs to be changed. Giving violent criminals endless and easy incentives for early release isn't just wrong, it's dangerous. Our state cannot continue to constantly put innocent people's lives at risk like this.

To paraphrase the question posed by Debra Harvey during the hearing on Senate Bill 354 last month, does the state of Maryland -- home to two major metropolitan areas -- want to attract talented, productive citizens like Lindsay Harvey, or does it want to protect violent criminals like Shawn Henderson.

I think most people living in Maryland know what they would choose. But what about our top lawmakers in Annapolis? When will they finally step up to the plate and acknowledge that we have a serious problem here?

Our legislation to limit diminution credits in Maryland did not get out of committee in the Maryland House or Senate this year. But we will be back next year to try again. We have already made great strides with the research we've done and the support we have garnered from some lawmakers in Annapolis. At some point later this year, we will regroup so that we may make even greater progress on getting this legislation passed.

Memo to Brian Frosh and Joseph Vallario: Our commitment to keeping Marylanders safe is as strong as ever. So is our commitment to achieving justice for Lindsay Harvey and her family.

To put it more plainly, this isn't over. Not by a longshot.

Rest in peace, Lindsay.

My (Possible) Op-Ed Piece in Sunday's Washington Post

With the legislative session in Maryland set to end and the one-year mark since the murder of Lindsay Marie Harvey on Monday, I submitted an op-ed piece on the diminution credits issue to the Washington Post, in the hopes that it will be published in this Sunday's edition, April 12. Presently, I do not know if this will happen. The limit on readers' op-ed pieces is 800 words, and even my condensed version exceeds that limit. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I want to share with you now the unedited column I wrote in its entirety:

One year ago this evening, Lindsay Marie Harvey, a 25-year-old DNA analyst and college professor who had moved to Montgomery County from upstate New York four years earlier, ventured from her home at the Grove Park Apartments in Gaithersburg to spend a Saturday night out with some friends. Little did she know that she had precious few hours left to live.

Around this time, a convicted felon named Shawn Henderson was at the Grove Park complex, looking to score some quick cash. Drunk and armed with a .40-caliber handgun, he flashed the weapon to a group of people at the complex that night, asking them if they knew anyone he could rob. When they said they didn’t, Henderson later began scouring the complex's parking lot, searching for a victim. Sometime between 1 and 2 AM the following morning, Lindsay Harvey pulled in.

Some 12 hours later, a neighbor discovered Lindsay's body lying face down inside a trash bin enclosure located 90 feet from where her car was parked and less than a hundred yards from her apartment. Her purse had been overturned, and her wallet -- which had $40 in it -- was missing. She had been shot once in the back of the head.

After Henderson was arrested two days later and charged with robbing and shooting Lindsay, the shock and disbelief among Lindsay's friends and family over what seemed to be a random act of violence committed against her quickly turned to outrage when it was learned that Henderson had been in trouble with the law before, and by all accounts should have still been in prison the night that he killed Lindsay.

Eight years earlier, when he was a teenager, Henderson had been sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but 12 years suspended, for his role in three violent robberies where he slashed two of the victim's throats and stabbed another in the neck. But some of loopholes in the Maryland sentencing guidelines enabled Henderson to regain his freedom after serving less than six of those 12 years.

Henderson's first break was a reconsideration hearing, which resulted in a Montgomery County judge giving him two-year reduction in his sentence. The second break, the one that put him back on the street, was his attainment of so-called "good time credits," or diminution credits. Through these credits, which inmates begin earning the moment they enter the prison system, Henderson was able to shave nearly four more years off his sentence.
In Maryland, violent offenders routinely earn up to 10 days per month off their sentences through diminution credits, and some violent inmates can even receive up to 20 days of credits a month, if they share their cells. They earn these credits through good conduct (up to five days a month), education (up to five days a month), various prison jobs (up to five days a month), and so-called "special projects" such as substance-abuse treatment, anger management, literacy and learning trades (up to 10 days a month).
Shawn Henderson was convicted of Lindsay Harvey's robbery and murder in February. His case has prompted renewed scrutiny over the way Maryland's criminal justice system handles its most violent offenders and calls for change.

Two bills currently before the Maryland General Assembly seek to limit the amount of diminution credits that violent offenders can receive so that they can earn no more than 15 percent of the time off their sentences through those credits. Similar systems in other states, including Virginia, have been tried and have succeeded in reducing the violent crime rate in those states, something that was pointed out last month out during both hearings on these bills by Maryland prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel.

But the bills have stalled, most notably because of a cost analysis of the legislation estimating that that the state would incur more than $200 million in expenses to keep violent offenders in jail longer and because the leadership in the both House and Senate committees that examine such legislation seems content to simply let these bills die in committee without being brought to a vote by the full Assembly.

The public defender's office in Maryland and others who oppose the diminution credit legislation have argued that the the purpose of prison is not to remove violent criminals from society for as long as possible but to give them options and incentives to behave and to educate reform and themselves.

"Eventually they're going to be released," reasoned Betsy Tolentino, representing the Office of the Public Defender in testifying before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last month. "And I think the way to release them is at least with some treatment and some incentive to get that treatment so that there is less of a likelihood of reoffending."

But while Tolentino apparently sees Shawn Henderson's case as an unfortunate anomaly in a system that she claims rehabilitates violent criminals and reduces their risk of reoffending, the statistics in Maryland tell a much different story, to the tune of a 51 recidivism rate among violent offenders in a state that the US Census Bureau has ranked as the fifth most violent state in the nation.

Tolentino also fails to grasp that diminution credits are mandatorily applied towards an inmate's early release without any regard to whether the inmate has even been reformed to the point where the possible threat to the community and to public safety is minimal. A violent offender's release through diminution credits is binding under the law. It's a statutory release, not a discretionary one like parole.

It should be noted that, while he was in prison, Shawn Henderson earned some of his good time credit through classes he had taken towards getting a general education degree, but he never actually earned the degree itself. It is also worth noting that Henderson was rejected in his bid for early release through parole in 2004, but that didn’t matter because Henderson was already shaving years off his sentence through the diminution credits he was earning.

Shawn Henderson received his original 12-year prison sentence for his knife attacks in 2000. He was released on April 14, 2006. He murdered Lindsay Harvey on April 13, 2008, and is now facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for that crime. You do the math and, if you are a criminal defense lawyer, the soul searching to boot. Even the most ardent defenders of the rights of the accused must be left to wonder whether Henderson would have been have been better off in the long run had he just served his full sentence for the knife attacks.

Lindsay Harvey was a kind, gentle soul who represented just about everything that was right and good with this world and made education a priority in life. Shawn Henderson is a career criminal who seems to have viewed his education and vocational pursuits merely as a means to an end. The criminal justice system in Maryland allowed him to reap the benefits of those pursuits without ever truly knowing whether he could be trusted to stay out of trouble. And it cost Lindsay Harvey her life.

The diminution credit legislation that has been sponsored by Sen. Nancy King in the Senate and Del. Ben Kramer in the House has gained immense support from several judicial committee members, among them Sens. Jim Brochin, Nancy Jacobs, and Jennie Forehand, who represents the Gaithersburg neighborhood where Lindsay Harvey lived and was killed. Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz, whose city was shaken enough by Lindsay Harvey's murder that it enthusiastically lent its support for the legislation, put it best when he said that if violent criminals are "not ready for freedom, [then] they're not ready for freedom. Another part of the system shouldn't kick in."

And then there's Debra Harvey, Lindsay Harvey's grieving mother, who, in her heartfelt testimony to both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, posed this question: "Does the Maryland General Assembly wish to attract, support and protect talented, intelligent, productive citizens like Lindsay Harvey? Or do you wish to support violent criminals like Shawn Henderson?"

It's a fair question, to say the least. Do Brian Frosh and Joseph Vallario have the political will to allow the General Assemby to answer it?

Shawn Henderson may have been a complete stranger to Lindsay Harvey, but he was no stranger to the criminal justice system in Maryland. That system had him within its grasp, and it should have been able to keep him there through most, if not all, of his prison sentence. We can argue all we want over what incentives violent inmates should have have at their disposal or what effect that the dearth of those incentives might have had on Henderson's violent tendencies. What cannot be argued is that a more stringent system would have spared Lindsay Harvey's life.

Gazette Column on Truth In Sentencing

Montgomery County Police Capt. Mitch Cunningham has a column in this week's Gazette on the need for a truth-in-sentencing system for violent offenders in Maryland. I myself have submitted an op-ed piece to the Washington Post that I am hoping will be published in this Sunday's edition, with the end of the Maryland legislative session and the one-year mark since Lindsay Harvey's murder both occurring the following day.

The version I submitted to the Post is much shorter than I had originally written because of the paper's space requirement. Soon I will post the entire, full-length piece on this blog.

Senate Bill 354: Is There Still Hope?

Although the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee allowed the March 30 "cross-over" deadline to pass without letting Senate Bill 354 out of commitee, I have since been told that the legislative session does not officially end until next Monday, April 13.

Sen. Brian Frosh, who chairs the committee and has sole discretion on which bills are let out of committee, is reportedly refusing to allow SB 354 to be brought to a vote by the full Senate despite our testimony at the March 18 hearing and strong support by other committee members.

If there is any hope at all of getting this bill passed in this year's legislative session, we may have to lobby Sen. Frosh directly.

Brian Frosh's email address is brian.frosh@senate.state.md.us. Write to him today and tell him you want this bill passed, especially if you happen to be a Bethesda resident and thus live in his district. Tell him you want to be safe from repeat violent offenders. Tell him you want the state of Maryland to put an end to the revolving door of criminal justice that allows even the worst of the worst to game the system and be let free before they are ready. Tell him that he can help save lives by putting this bill up for a vote. And tell him you are willing to have your tax dollars put towards keeping you and your loved ones safe.

Don't delay. Write to Sen. Frosh now.

Senate Bill 354 Dies in Committee

The title pretty much covers it. No report was issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Senate Bill 354 by the Maryland General Assembly's March 30 "cross-over" deadline, which means the bill is dead for this year.

That's the bad news. The somewhat encouraging news is that since the bill simply was not let out of committee, there was no unfavorable report issued on it. So while we did not get what we wished for this time around, those who pushed for an unfavorable report on the bill didn't quite get their way either.

The support we did receive from several members of the SJC was invaluable, and Sen. Nancy King has already indicated that she would be willing to bring the proposed legislation back for the 2010 legislative session. Hopefully by then we will have drawn more attention to the issue of lenient sentencing for violent offenders and be able to drum up more support for the bill.