Marylanders incarcerated for the crime of first-degree rape will no longer be able to get out of prison early on automatic “good time” credits.
Democratic Governor Wes Moore signed SB 1098 or the Pava LaPere Act into law during a bill signing in Annapolis on Thursday.
Diminution in Maryland previously allowed people serving time for violent crimes to earn up to 20 days a month off their sentence, although there were some exceptions. People convicted of rape and third-degree sexual assault against minors 16 and younger were not eligible for automatic diminution.
The law is named after and is a reaction to the murder of tech CEO Pava LaPere — who was allegedly killed by a convicted sex offender released early from prison on the state’s automatic diminution system.
Moore remembered LaPere at the bill signing by mentioning two photographs that the entrepreneur once owned.
“One is a picture of vacant homes in Baltimore. And the other is a picture of those homes that have been rebuilt, habitable, lively, vibrant,” said Moore. “And now they're sitting right above my desk. As a reminder, of not just that we have to make sure that the thing that happened to Pava never happens again — but that we never forget her light.”
The bill was sponsored by Senator William C. Smith, a Democrat from Montgomery County.
After graduating from Johns Hopkins University, LaPere founded EcoMap Technologies in Baltimore. Through EcoMap Technologies businesses and non-profits can find other similarly aligned companies and investors.
Jason Billingsley, 32, is charged with killing LaPere, 26, in September. Her body was found with signs of blunt force trauma on the roof of her Mount Vernon apartment. Billingsley also has charges for arson and sexual assault against a West Baltimore couple in an attack that was committed just days before. Billingsley was a convicted sex offender who was released from prison in October 2022, in part, because of diminution credits.
But criminal justice reformers warn that rolling diminution credits, even for heinous crimes like rape, could be a more dangerous to the public in the long run.
“To be clear, this was a horrific crime and I understand the natural inclination to want to keep something like that from ever happening again,” said David Jaros, the director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore.
“These kinds of good time credits incentivize incarcerated people to be on better behavior while they're incarcerated. And this means they're less dangerous to correctional officers, and also less likely to victimize and traumatize other inmates they encounter while they're inside,” he said.
Jaros and others argue that rather than restricting diminution, the state should be focusing instead on rehabilitation and educational resources for incarcerated people instead.
Matt Bush contributed reporting to this story.