A city Circuit Court judge in Baltimore, Maryland,
John M. Glynn, ordered state corrections officials on Friday to produce
in 30 days a written report that will outline plans to reduce over
crowding and slow processing times at the city's Central Booking and
Intake Center. The state-run facility is a centralized jail designed to
process arrests made by all city police precincts and is the gateway
into the criminal justice system of suspects taken into custody in the
city of 640,000 people.
In the last 3 months, over 80 arrestees were released from the
Central Booking facility without being formally charged. In April this
year, a temporary restaining order was issued by Judge Glynn against
the facility to enforce the release of those held more than 24 hours
after their intake who did not receive a hearing by a court
commissioner. The commissioner sets bail, if granted, and formalizes
the charges filed by the arresting officer. The charges are then
entered into the state's computer system where the case is tracked. The
hearing also marks the date for the suspect’s right to a speedy trial.
The Friday hearing was called after the city mayor’s office of Martin O'Malley
filed a motion to join a lawsuit that was brought by public defenders
on behalf of those criminally detained at the facility. In Maryland,
a hearing with a court commissioner within 24 hours of being arrested
is state law. Judge Glynn presided over that lawsuit which led to the
temporary restraining order. The order is to remain in effect until
November.
Aides to O’Malley are seeking help from his court to implement and
then monitor procedural changes at Central Booking, and made sharp
criticisms of state public safety officials. One mayor’s aide said,
