Maryland Republicans and black Democrats agree: Tougher approach to juvenile crime is needed
White Dems disagree
Maryland is a deep Blue state. We’re so Blue that Joe Biden’s approval rating here is 57 percent. We’re so Blue that California turned to us for a successor to Dianne Feinstein.
Yet, according to a new poll, Marylanders strongly prefer tougher laws to deal with juvenile crime. The Washington Post reports:
Fifty-nine percent of Maryland residents said strict laws would “ultimately better help children under 18 who commit crimes” while 35 percent said laws characterized as more lenient, which acknowledge society bears responsibility for much of the behavior, would be the best strategy, according to a Gonzales Research poll released Tuesday.
Strict laws would also help those on whom children under 18 prey, if that matters.
The Post continues:
A majority of almost every demographic group polled by Gonzales Research and Media Services, in this case men, women, Black people, White people, Republicans and independents, said strict laws should be in place to combat juvenile crime.
One group is conspicuous by its absence from those that support stricter laws to deal with juveniles who commit crimes:
Democrats were the only demographic group surveyed as nearly split on the question, with 46 percent preferring strict laws and 47 percent preferring lenient laws. Nearly 62 percent of Black Democrats said they preferred strict laws. Democrats make up a strong majority in Maryland and Black people make up a large voting bloc of the party.
(Emphasis added)
The Post declined to highlight what’s perhaps the most interesting tidbit here. If (a) 46 percent of all Democrats favor tougher laws, (b) 62 percent of black Democrats favor them, and (c) blacks make up a large portion of Maryland Democrats (around 43 percent; the same as the white percentage), then the percentage of white Democrats who favor tougher laws is quite small — somewhere in the neighborhood of one-third.
Thus, white white Maryland Democrats are wildly out-of-step on this issue, not just with Marylanders as a whole, but even more so with black Maryland Democrats. Not only that, but the views of black Maryland Dems are in-line with those of Republicans on this issue.
This result shouldn’t surprise us. Blacks suffer from crime, including juvenile crime, to a disproportionate extent. Moreover, law abiding blacks understand better than most the idiocy of believing that society bears responsibility for much of juvenile criminal behavior. After all, society/racism didn’t cause them to become criminals. As Del. Karen Toles, who is black, stated at a recent Maryland House Judiciary Committee meeting: “We need to stop making excuses for these kids; they know exactly what they’re doing.”
But Maryland’s Democrat establishment is unlikely to take heed. Governor Wes Moore, who is black (and who makes Chuck Schumer seem camera shy), has appointed a leading criminal justice reformer, Vincent Schiraldi, to the post of Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary. He favors an end to prosecuting juvenile murderers and rapists as adults. And Moore himself supported legislation under which all cases involving juvenile defendants would begin in juvenile court.
The Post notes that juvenile jurisdiction ends at age 21. This means that if someone rapes or kills a person at age 17 and remains in the juvenile system, he or she can go free at age 21 without a record, without supervision and without a requirement to participate in services.
Thus, the Moore administration is pushing less strict laws for dealing with juvenile crime at a time when most Marylanders — including black Democrats by a big margin — want stricter law. Indeed, according to the same survey discussed above, 57 percent of Maryland residents oppose legislation that would allow a teenager accused of rape or murder to have his or her case tried in juvenile court instead of being charged as an adult. Only 38 percent favor this.
Democrats are out-of-touch with the electorate on juvenile crime and on crime generally — not just in Maryland, but throughout America. That’s why Bill, on this blog, has argued that Republicans should hammer Democrats on crime in elections. He’s right, and the same thing goes for illegal immigration, in my opinion.
Thanks to the state of the economy, and to Democrat cluelessness on crime and immigration, the table is set for the GOP to prosper. We just need to stop giving people rational excuses to vote for Dems — in other words, to stop nominating clowns, fanatics, grifters, and lawbreakers for key offices.