Vincent Schiraldi | |
---|---|
Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services | |
Assumed office March 2, 2023 Acting: January 18, 2023 – March 2, 2023 | |
Governor | Wes Moore |
Preceded by | Sam J. Abed |
36th Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction | |
In office June 1,2021 –December 31,2021 | |
Mayor | Bill de Blasio |
Preceded by | Cynthia Brann |
Succeeded by | Louis Molina |
Personal details | |
Born | Vincent N. Schiraldi January 3,1959 |
Education | New York University (MSW) Binghamton University (BA) |
Vincent N. Schiraldi (born January 3,1959) is an American juvenile justice policy reformer and activist who has served as the Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services since 2023. [1] He was previously a senior research scientist at the Columbia University School of Social Work from October 2017 to January 2023. He is known for advocating for trying suspects under the age of 21 in juvenile court,and for programs that supervise older inmates and erase their records if they find a job. [2] [3] His advocacy for more lenient treatment of youth offenders has been controversial:youth advocates have praised his reforms for providing outlets for juveniles,while some law enforcement officers have questioned whether his policies have been too lenient. [4]
Schiraldi grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn,New York. He attended Regis High School in Manhattan,received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University and his MSW from New York University Silver School of Social Work. He reformed the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in 1991,and served as its director until 2002,when he founded the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). He then served as the director of the JPI until 2005,when he became the administrator of the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. As head of the Department,he argued that juveniles should not be punished as harshly,and that incentives are a better way to reduce juvenile misbehavior. [5] In 2010,he became Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation,a position he held until 2014,when he became a senior advisor to mayor Bill de Blasio in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. [6] [7] From March 2014 to September 2015,he was senior advisor to Elizabeth Glazer,director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. [8] He was a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government,heading the Program on Criminal Justice from 2015 until he joined Columbia's faculty in October 2017. [9] In 2021,he was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections for the last seven months of Mayor Bill de Blasio's term. [10]
On January 12,2023,Governor-elect Wes Moore named Schiraldi as the Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services. [11] He took office in an acting capacity on January 18,2023. His nomination was the most controversial of Moore's cabinet nominees,with Maryland Senate Republicans,including Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr.,saying that Schiraldi was "a little progressive for some of our members" [12] and others scrutinizing his approach to juvenile justice. [13] On February 21,the Maryland Senate voted 33–14 along party lines to approve Schiraldi's nomination,making him the only member of Moore's cabinet not to receive a unanimous vote. [14] [15]
In October 2024,after a Howard High School student with a prior criminal record was charged with first-degree murder,multiple Republican officials [16] [17] and Baltimore community members called for the removal of Schiraldi as Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services. [18] Schiraldi declined to step down,telling The Baltimore Sun that he agreed with community members' desires to see fewer crimes involving young people and was implementing a plan to deter juvenile crime through policies to hold offenders accountable while doing "all we can" to turn their lives around. [19]
The governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland,and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers in both the state and local governments,as specified by the Maryland Constitution.
Susan Clair Lee is an American politician. She has served as the 72nd Maryland Secretary of State since 2023. She was a member of the Maryland State Senate from 2015 to 2023,and of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2002 to 2015. She represented District 16,covering parts of Montgomery County,and was the first Asian American elected to the Maryland State Senate,as well as the first Asian American woman and first Chinese American elected to the Maryland legislature.
Katherine A. Klausmeier is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing the 8th district since 2003. A member of the Democratic Party,she previously served as president pro tempore of the Maryland Senate from 2019 to 2020 and represented the same district earlier in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1995 to 2003. Klausmeier is the longest serving current member of the Maryland Senate.
The American juvenile justice system is the primary system used to handle minors who are convicted of criminal offenses. The system is composed of a federal and many separate state,territorial,and local jurisdictions,with states and the federal government sharing sovereign police power under the common authority of the United States Constitution. The juvenile justice system intervenes in delinquent behavior through police,court,and correctional involvement,with the goal of rehabilitation. Youth and their guardians can face a variety of consequences including probation,community service,youth court,youth incarceration and alternative schooling. The juvenile justice system,similar to the adult system,operates from a belief that intervening early in delinquent behavior will deter adolescents from engaging in criminal behavior as adults.
Thomas Edward Perez is an American politician and attorney currently serving as senior advisor to the president of the United States and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,holding both positions since June 2023. Perez previously served as the United States Secretary of Labor (2013–2017),the chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021),and United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2009–2013).
Aisha Nazapa Braveboy is an American politician and attorney who has served as the state's attorney of Prince George's County,Maryland since 2018. She was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates,representing the 25th district from 2007 to 2015.
The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world,through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system,which reflects the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. In 2010,approximately 70,800 juveniles were incarcerated in youth detention facilities alone. As of 2006,approximately 500,000 youth were brought to detention centers in a given year. This data does not reflect juveniles tried as adults. As of 2013,around 40% were incarcerated in privatized,for-profit facilities.
The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) is the juvenile justice agency of the District of Columbia,in the United States.
Westley Watende Omari Moore is an American politician,businessman,author,and veteran,serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023.
Alonzo T. Washington is an American politician,appointed to the Maryland Senate in 2023 to represent District 22,which covers Prince George's County. He previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2012 to 2023 after being appointed to the seat by Governor Martin O'Malley.
Justin D. Ready is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate since 2015,representing District 5 in Carroll County. He previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2011 to 2015.
Criminal justice reform seeks to address structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling,police brutality,overcriminalization,mass incarceration,and recidivism. Reforms can take place at any point where the criminal justice system intervenes in citizens’lives,including lawmaking,policing,sentencing and incarceration. Criminal justice reform can also address the collateral consequences of conviction,including disenfranchisement or lack of access to housing or employment,that may restrict the rights of individuals with criminal records.
William Colonel Smith Jr. is an American politician who is a member of the Maryland Senate representing District 20 since 2016. He previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2016.
Charles E. Sydnor III is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing District 44 since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously represented District 44B in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2020.
Angela Deneece Alsobrooks is an American lawyer who is a United States senator-elect from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party,she served as county executive of Prince George's County,Maryland,from 2018 to 2024,and as the county's state's attorney from 2010 to 2018. She is the first female county executive of Prince George's County and the first Black female county executive in Maryland history.
Jazz M. Lewis is an American politician and Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Lewis represents Maryland's 24th district,and is currently serving as House Majority Whip.
Dalya Attar is an American politician who currently serves in the Maryland House of Delegates,representing District 41 in northwest,northern and southwest Baltimore City.
Antonino D. "Nino" Mangione is an American politician from the Republican Party who is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 42A since 2023,and District 42B from 2019 to 2023. He also served as a Baltimore County co-chair for the state's Trump Victory Leadership County team.
Wes Moore became the 63rd governor of Maryland on January 18,2023.