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A state senator from Baltimore County said he will move this week to ban anyone convicted of a felony from receiving money from a state fund that assists crime victims.
Sen. James Brochin, a Democrat who sits on the committee that oversees legislation dealing with the fund, said felons do not deserve awards from the Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which was created 40 years ago to reimburse crime victims and their families for medical bills, lost wages and funeral expenses.
He was responding to a report published Sunday in The Sun that nearly $1.8 million was awarded to 217 offenders in Baltimore since 2003. Compensation payments went to at least 147 felons or their families, including two convicted murderers, a Bloods gang member killed by a fellow Blood and dozens of drug dealers. A child sex offender was compensated for medical bills stemming from an assault in prison.
"These are serious crimes that do serious damage to people's livelihood and their lives," Brochin said of felonies. "I don't care if it was 10 years ago or yesterday. I don't think they should be able to dip into a fund that was meant to help victims of these crimes. It just strikes me as bizarre."
The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is scheduled to hold hearings Thursday on two bills related to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which administers the fund. Brochin said he planned to introduce an amendment that would exclude felons. He said he was meeting yesterday to discuss the issue with the committee's chairman, Sen. Brian E. Frosh.
Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, said the Sun report "certainly raised troubling questions" but that it will require study before the legislature can move forward.
"Before we pass a law, I think we need to hear from the board, from the advocates for victims, from law enforcement ... ," he said.
At least eight states restrict or ban felons from receiving aid, according to the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards.
In Maryland, the board disqualifies those participating in a crime when injured. A 2002 ruling by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals made clear that a denial must rest on supporting evidence that a victim's criminal involvement led to injury.
Created in 1968, the five-member board is appointed by the governor and employs nine claims investigators who work for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Last year, the program paid out $5.84 million on 824 claims. The money comes from local and federal court fees and a $3 surcharge on traffic tickets. No tax dollars are used.
Half of the claims received by the board are denied, officials said.
Most of the money from the fund goes to hospitals and funeral homes to pay for victims' bills after they are injured during crimes. Some of the money goes directly to victims, including felons, in the form of lost wages. More than $11,800 went to a twice-convicted cocaine dealer after he was injured in a driveby shooting, The Sun reported.
Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said he had not spoken with the governor about the issue. But he said the administration would look into the program and consider changes.
"We'll certainly look at Senator Brochin's amendment and see ... if there would be a fiscal impact," Abbruzzese said.
He pointed out that most of the money from the fund goes to hospitals to cover victims' unpaid medical bills and to funeral homes for burials. If compensation did not cover the medical bills, taxpayers would likely pay indirectly through increased hospital rates, he said.
Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat who sits on the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the compensation board has been strict in not awarding benefits to people who were involved in criminal activity that led to their injuries. She said disqualifying felons would unfairly exclude people with legitimate claims.
"If you have served your time, and you've done all that you're supposed to do toward being a citizen with full rights and responsibilities, then I don't see why you should be barred from the compensation board," said Gladden, a public defender.
Russell P. Butler, executive director of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, said he supports denying people found to have been participating in a crime when injured. But he said that criminals should be helped if they did nothing to cause their injuries.
"Even a prostitute can be raped and murdered. Even a drug dealer can be the victim of a totally unrelated driveby shooting," Butler said.
Frosh said changes "are likely to be in order," but that the goal might be to give the board greater leeway in certain cases. He said that "at a minimum, we want to make sure the board has discretion not to award compensation if they find that somebody, if not directly connected to this crime, was so connected to a life of crime that they should be disqualified.
"I'm not sure quite how to make the change, but it does suggest we want to push the board in a different direction."
josh.mitchell@baltsun.com
Sen. James Brochin, a Democrat who sits on the committee that oversees legislation dealing with the fund, said felons do not deserve awards from the Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which was created 40 years ago to reimburse crime victims and their families for medical bills, lost wages and funeral expenses.
He was responding to a report published Sunday in The Sun that nearly $1.8 million was awarded to 217 offenders in Baltimore since 2003. Compensation payments went to at least 147 felons or their families, including two convicted murderers, a Bloods gang member killed by a fellow Blood and dozens of drug dealers. A child sex offender was compensated for medical bills stemming from an assault in prison.
"These are serious crimes that do serious damage to people's livelihood and their lives," Brochin said of felonies. "I don't care if it was 10 years ago or yesterday. I don't think they should be able to dip into a fund that was meant to help victims of these crimes. It just strikes me as bizarre."
The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is scheduled to hold hearings Thursday on two bills related to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which administers the fund. Brochin said he planned to introduce an amendment that would exclude felons. He said he was meeting yesterday to discuss the issue with the committee's chairman, Sen. Brian E. Frosh.
Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, said the Sun report "certainly raised troubling questions" but that it will require study before the legislature can move forward.
"Before we pass a law, I think we need to hear from the board, from the advocates for victims, from law enforcement ... ," he said.
At least eight states restrict or ban felons from receiving aid, according to the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards.
In Maryland, the board disqualifies those participating in a crime when injured. A 2002 ruling by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals made clear that a denial must rest on supporting evidence that a victim's criminal involvement led to injury.
Created in 1968, the five-member board is appointed by the governor and employs nine claims investigators who work for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Last year, the program paid out $5.84 million on 824 claims. The money comes from local and federal court fees and a $3 surcharge on traffic tickets. No tax dollars are used.
Half of the claims received by the board are denied, officials said.
Most of the money from the fund goes to hospitals and funeral homes to pay for victims' bills after they are injured during crimes. Some of the money goes directly to victims, including felons, in the form of lost wages. More than $11,800 went to a twice-convicted cocaine dealer after he was injured in a driveby shooting, The Sun reported.
Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said he had not spoken with the governor about the issue. But he said the administration would look into the program and consider changes.
"We'll certainly look at Senator Brochin's amendment and see ... if there would be a fiscal impact," Abbruzzese said.
He pointed out that most of the money from the fund goes to hospitals to cover victims' unpaid medical bills and to funeral homes for burials. If compensation did not cover the medical bills, taxpayers would likely pay indirectly through increased hospital rates, he said.
Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat who sits on the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the compensation board has been strict in not awarding benefits to people who were involved in criminal activity that led to their injuries. She said disqualifying felons would unfairly exclude people with legitimate claims.
"If you have served your time, and you've done all that you're supposed to do toward being a citizen with full rights and responsibilities, then I don't see why you should be barred from the compensation board," said Gladden, a public defender.
Russell P. Butler, executive director of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, said he supports denying people found to have been participating in a crime when injured. But he said that criminals should be helped if they did nothing to cause their injuries.
"Even a prostitute can be raped and murdered. Even a drug dealer can be the victim of a totally unrelated driveby shooting," Butler said.
Frosh said changes "are likely to be in order," but that the goal might be to give the board greater leeway in certain cases. He said that "at a minimum, we want to make sure the board has discretion not to award compensation if they find that somebody, if not directly connected to this crime, was so connected to a life of crime that they should be disqualified.
"I'm not sure quite how to make the change, but it does suggest we want to push the board in a different direction."
josh.mitchell@baltsun.com
Sun reporters Timothy B. Wheeler and Laura Smitherman contributed to this article.
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