Maryland revokes governor’s authority to overturn parole decisions involving people serving life terms

Maryland will no longer allow the sitting governor to overturn parole decisions for inmates serving life sentences, removing itself from a list of three states that still give governors that authority.

The Maryland General Assembly voted this week to revoke the governor’s ability to reject parole board recommendations, ending a consequential policy that has shaped the prospects of early release for hundreds of inmates in the state, the vast majority of them Black.