Maryland’s vacatur laws have recently received an “F” grade in a nationwide review of criminal relief laws; the state has the lowest ranking in the nation.[1] The report is co-authored by UB Law’s Professor and Director of the Human Trafficking Prevention Project, Jessica Emerson. This may sound like a surprise to some familiar with vacatur laws – Maryland was the second in the nation to enact a vacatur law in 2011.[2] Although the general assembly passed three other human trafficking related bills in the 2019 legislative session, Maryland still fails to provide adequate judicial remedies to survivors.[3]

Senate Bill 691/ House Bill 782 (True Freedom Act of 2019) failed during the 2019 legislative session.[4] The bill would have created two important changes to Maryland’s scarce human trafficking laws.[5] First, it would have increased the number of criminal offenses eligible for vacatur. Vacatur is the process of vacating a conviction; the court admits there was an error in the original conviction.[6] It differs from expungement, where information regarding a case is removed from certain court and police records.[7] Currently, Maryland’s vacatur law only applies to prostitution convictions stemming from trafficking.[8] The bill would have made more criminal offenses directly related to trafficking eligible for vacatur, like possessing or purchasing a noncontrolled substance, misdemeanor theft, and public assistance fraud.[9] Second, the bill would have removed the current requirement that survivors obtain consent from the State’s Attorney’s Office that originally prosecuted them before filing a vacatur petition.[10] Obtaining this consent can be re-traumatizing for survivors.[11]

Maryland’s weaker penalties for traffickers, and its access to I-95, I-70, and BWI Airport, makes it especially enticing for perpetrators.[12] Although the state has a human trafficking task force, founded in 2007, it must make some serious changes to better protect survivors of trafficking.[13] It must recognize that traffickers can make their victims engage in more criminal activity than prostitution, and the effects of these convictions on survivors can make it much more difficult to heal and move on from their traumatic experiences.

Note: As of January 29, 2020, Maryland legislators have cross-filed the True Freedom Act of 2020. The bill enumerates the same changes as the True Freedom Act of 2019. H.B. 242, 2020 Leg., 441^th Sess. (Md. 2020).

Paulina Taniewski is a second-year law student and Staff Editor with the University of Baltimore Law Forum. Currently, Paulina is a law intern with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Her interests include human rights law and public service, and she hopes to work for the federal government upon graduation.

[1] Erin Marsh, Brittany Anthony, Jessica Emerson & Kate Mogulescu, State Report Cards: Grading Criminal Record Relief Laws for Survivors of Human Trafficking (2019), https://polarisproject.org/sites/default/files/Grading%20Criminal%20Record%20Relief%20Laws%20for%20Survivors%20of%20Human%20Trafficking.pdf.

[2] Knezevich, A., For human trafficking victims, ‘a new beginning’, Balt. Sun (Dec. 08, 2014), https://search-proquest-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/docview/1634334187?accountid=40537.

[3] Legislative Updates, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, https://mvlslaw.org/legislative-updates/ (last visited Nov. 20, 2019).

[4] H.B. 782, 2019 Leg., 439^th Sess. (Md. 2019).

[5] Id.

[6] Erin Marsh, Brittany Anthony, Jessica Emerson & Kate Mogulescu, State Report Cards: Grading Criminal Record Relief Laws for Survivors of Human Trafficking (2019), https://polarisproject.org/sites/default/files/Grading%20Criminal%20Record%20Relief%20Laws%20for%20Survivors%20of%20Human%20Trafficking.pdf.

[7] Expungement (Adult), Maryland Courts, https://mdcourts.gov/legalhelp/expungement (last visited Nov. 20, 2019).

[8] Md. Code Ann., Crim. Proc. § 8-302.

[9] H.B. 782, 2019 Leg., 439^th Sess. (Md. 2019).

[10] Id.

[11] Knezevich, A., For human trafficking victims, ‘a new beginning’, Balt. Sun  (Dec. 08, 2014), https://search-proquest-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/docview/1634334187?accountid=40537.

[12] Ron Cassie, Children of the Night: Sex Trafficking is Maryland’s Dirty Open Secret, Balt. Mag. (Mar. 2017), https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/community/sex-trafficking-is-maryland-dirty-open-secret.

[13] About the Task Force, Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, http://www.mdhumantrafficking.org/mhttf.