When the legislature convened in January, it seemed all but certain that it would seek to address two terrible deaths caused in some part by failures of our systems to keep Marylanders safe. In October, Miriam Frankl, 20, a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate was killed as she stepped off the curb in Charles Village by a truck careening up the street on what witnesses said was a reckles ride through the city. Thomas Meighan Jr., a Carroll County man who had been repeatedly convicted of drunk driving offenses but was still the registered owner of the truck that struck Ms. Frankl, has been charged in her death. And in December, Sarah Foxwell, an 11-year-old Salisbury girl was kidnapped from her home and killed. The man charged in her death, Thomas J. Leggs Jr., was a registered sex offender who had managed to avoid serious jail time despite a string of guilty pleas, including the rape of a Delaware girl.
But as the General Assembly convenes Monday for the final sprint of this year's session, important pieces of legislation designed to prevent a repeat of those two tragedies still face uncertain prospects.
Several bills dealing with sex offenders have passed and are headed to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk, including legislation to reduce good time credits sex offenders can receive in prison and lifetime supervision for some serious offenders upon release. But legislation that would increase the penalties for some child sex offenders and revamp Maryland's sex offender registry to comply with federal standards are hung up by differences between the House and Senate.
And legislation requiring those convicted of drunk driving – even first-time offenders – to install ignition interlock systems in their cars passed the Senate 44-0 this year but has yet to get a vote in the House.
In both cases, it appears that the House and Senate are committed to getting something done before they adjourn at midnight, but that's no guarantee. Bills can fall apart at the last minute in the final rush of the legislation in ways that are inexplicable even to those in the thick of the action. But with most other major issues out of the way, legislators should focus Monday on these two issues to make sure they don't fall through the cracks.