The Juvenile Restoration Act (JRA) is a law in Maryland allowing minors who were sentenced as adults to ask a judge to consider a reducing their sentence after they have served 20 years in prison.[1] The law also prevents juveniles from being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, making Maryland the 25th U.S. state to ban life sentences for juveniles.[2]
Under the JRA, 415 people became eligible for sentencing review.[2] Shortly after the passage of the law, the Maryland Office of the Public Defender created the Decarceration Initiative, which coordinated representation for indigent clients eligible for sentencing review.[6] The law went into effect on October 1, 2021.[6] During the law's first year in effect, thirty-six motions for sentence reduction were decided, resulting in a shorter sentence in twenty-seven cases.[6] In twenty-three of these cases individuals were granted immediate release.[6]