HB 135

Criminal Law - Controlled Dangerous Substances and Firearms

Sponsor: David Moon (District 20)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Criminal Law - Substantive CrimesStatus: Third Reading Passed with Amendments (32-14) (as of Nov 9, 2023)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Specifying that manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing certain large quantities of certain controlled dangerous substances is a felony; authorizing a certain person serving a certain term of confinement for an offense relating to volume dealing in cocaine base or cannabis or a drug kingpin with regard to cocaine base or cannabis imposed on or before a certain date to file a certain motion to modify or reduce the sentence under certain circumstances; altering the penalties for certain crimes related to firearms; etc.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (39)

MGA witness list

FAV 9FavorableFWA 3Favorable with amendmentsUNF 27Unfavorable

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Black Caucus, Legislative	HB135 Legislative Black Caucus of MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Naugle, Olivialobbyist	Marijuana Policy Project	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hall, Michele	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Hilliard, Elizabeth	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Position only
FAV	Hanson, Nicole	Out for Justice	Oral
FAV	Arrington, Stephan	Individual	Position only
FAV	Delegate Moon, Delegate Moonlegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Delegate Moon, Delegate Moonlegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Morris, Harold	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Shellenberger, Scott	Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Kerr, Jonathan	Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Oral
UNF	Wallington, Keithlobbyist	Justice Policy Institute	Written (PDF)
UNF	Love, Dayvon	Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle	Oral
UNF	Mansfield, Andrealobbyist	MD Chiefs and Sheriffs Association	Written (PDF)
UNF	Lewis, Mike	Maryland Chiefs & Sheriffs Associations	Oral
UNF	Pipkin, Matthewlobbyist	Maryland Judiciary	Written (PDF)
UNF	Hilliard, Elizabeth	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Katcef, William	Maryland State's Attorney's Association	Oral
UNF	Kroll, Steven	Maryland State's Attorneys' Association	Oral
UNF	McCarthy, John	Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office	Oral
UNF	Hill, Robert	Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office and Maryland State's Attorney's Association	Oral
UNF	Khalfani, Natasha	Office of the Public Defender Maryland	Written (PDF)
UNF	Stinar, Braden	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Oral
UNF	Warnken, Heather	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Oral
UNF	Amanuel, Yanetlobbyist	Individual	Oral
UNF	Brown, Harrison	Individual	Position only
UNF	Carr, Rusty	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Carroll, Daraja	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Diefenbach, Klaus	Individual	Position only
UNF	Diefenbach, Linda	Individual	Position only
UNF	Lang, Alan	Individual	Position only
UNF	Lang, Kevin	Individual	Position only
UNF	Vernon, Michael	Individual	Position only
UNF	Williams, Peggy	Individual	Position only
UNF	Zwart, Will	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	mcavoy, vince	Individual	Written (PDF)
FWA	Welter, Jer	Office of the Attorney General	Written (PDF)
FWA	Braveboy, Aisha	Prince George's County State's Attorney	Oral
FWA	Carr, Rusty	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

Baltimore County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

Center for Criminal Justice ReformUNF 1

HB135 Legislative Black Caucus of MDFAV 1

Justice Policy InstituteUNF 1

Leaders of a Beautiful StruggleUNF 1

Marijuana Policy ProjectFAV 1

Maryland Chiefs & Sheriffs AssociationsUNF 1

Maryland JudiciaryUNF 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderFAV 2UNF 1

Maryland State's Attorney's AssociationUNF 1

Maryland State's Attorneys' AssociationUNF 1

MD Chiefs and Sheriffs AssociationUNF 1

Montgomery County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office and Maryland State's Attorney's AssociationUNF 1

Office of the Attorney GeneralFWA 1

Office of the Public Defender MarylandUNF 1

Out for JusticeFAV 1

Prince George's County State's AttorneyFWA 1

University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice ReformUNF 2

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVNaugle, OliviaMarijuana Policy ProjectRegistered for: Marijuana Policy Project

UNFWallington, KeithJustice Policy InstituteRegistered for: Justice Policy Institute

UNFMansfield, AndreaMD Chiefs and Sheriffs AssociationRegistered for: HDR Engineering, Inc.; Adventist HealthCare, Inc.; Alkermes; Alterwood Health, Inc.; American Chemistry Council; Amrize North America Inc., formerly Holcim Participations (US) Inc.…

UNFPipkin, MatthewMaryland JudiciaryRegistered for: Maryland Multi-Housing Association

UNFAmanuel, YanetRegistered for: ACLU of Maryland