Baltimore state’s attorney candidate Roya Hanna lays out crime plan
Baltimore state’s attorney candidate Roya Hanna has introduced a multifaceted plan to reduce crime in the city, looking to distinguish herself from State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and touting tougher prosecution of gun crimes, as well as diversion programs for those accused of minor offenses.
Hanna said she intends to prosecute drug possession and prostitution. Mosby has discontinued such prosecutions, arguing that pursuing low-level offenses disproportionately hurts the city’s minority neighborhoods.
A defense lawyer and former assistant state’s attorney, Hanna contended those cases didn’t send the defendants to jail time to begin with and offer an opportunity to direct the people charged to diversion programs, like drug court.
The release of Hanna’s crime plan came as Baltimore endured a deadly and violent start to the new year. As of her announcement Tuesday, police had recorded 11 more homicides than the same date last year. There had been 100 nonfatal shootings, compared with 72 at the same point in 2021, according to police.
Hanna and defense attorney Ivan Bates, who’s also challenging Mosby in the June 28 Democratic primary, have consistently described crime as the focal point of their campaigns to be Baltimore’s top prosecutor. Bates filed to run Tuesday; he also sought the job in 2018. Mosby hasn’t officially filed to run for what would be her third, four-year term.
Baltimore state’s attorney candidate Roya Hanna discusses her plan to reduce crime in the city. (Alex Mann/Baltimore Sun)
If elected, Hanna said, she’d seek stiffer punishments for those who wield guns and she would collaborate more closely with federal prosecutors to ensure those accused of carrying guns are prosecuted in whichever court they could face the longer sentence.
The U.S. attorney’s office already pursues firearm offenses, but Hanna says promoting tougher gun prosecution and the potential of federal cases will serve as a deterrent to gun possession and yield fewer spontaneous shootings and killings.
“Under my administration, gun crime will mean jail time,” Hanna said.
Hanna said she would prioritize strengthening violent crime cases by expanding the unit in the state’s attorney’s office tasked with reviewing cases when they’re first charged, so that there are enough prosecutors to review body camera footage and witness statements and identify weaknesses in cases.
Like others around the country, Mosby’s office has been battered by attrition that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hanna has seized on what she describes as a lack of experienced line attorneys as a campaign issue. She said she plans to provide prosecutors more training on scientific evidence, like DNA, and match to younger prosecutors with more experienced attorneys for mentorship.
“You can’t throw people into very serious cases and not give them enough feedback and supervision and hand-holding, to a certain extent,” Hanna said.
If elected, Hanna hopes to establish a Women’s Empowerment Court to help women charged with crimes.
Baltimore already has drug, veteran and mental health courts. These diversion dockets serve those charged with low-level offenses and refer defendants to resources for drug or mental health treatment.
Hanna points to research that suggests the majority of incarcerated women having a history of physical or sexual abuse.
“As I envision it, the women’s court will make sure they are getting counseling and also do other things, like provide them with job training,” Hanna said.
Hanna also hopes to require some people charged with minor crimes to complete community service by tidying vacant lots, citing a study from Philadelphia backed by the National Institutes of Health that found that gun assaults and other types of crime decreased around vacant lots that were cleaned up.
