In March, S.B. 540 was approved and sent to the Governor’s desk, giving Attorney General Anthony Brown a key win for his legislative agenda: granting his office the authority to enforce federal and state civil rights laws against public and private entities in matters of employment, state contracts, housing, and public accommodations.[1] A parallel H.B. 772 passed the House’s initial vote.[2]

The bill[3] stipulates that the Attorney General’s office may not bring a civil rights action against a state or local government employee or institution, but does allow the office to work collaboratively with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights.[4] That collaboration means that the Attorney General will be “able to bring larger cases on a larger scale, make a bigger impact, and really send a strong message that in Maryland practices of discrimination are not tolerated,” said Attorney General Brown.[5] The bill allows the Attorney General’s office to conduct investigations, file suit, bring class action lawsuits, and impose penalties on certain parties found to have violated the civil rights laws.[6]

The bill gives the Attorney General the power to seek economic damages for individual discrimination – $10,000 for initial civil penalties and $25,000 for each repeating violation – and reimbursement for the cost of litigation and investigations the office undertakes.[7]The law does not give defendants another route to recoup attorney’s fees for suits brought against them which failed in court, but defendants would be able to seek attorney’s fees for suits brought against them in bad faith.[8] Money earned through civil penalties will be deposited into a Civil Rights Enforcement Fund, accessible by the State and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights to conduct various community outreach, education campaigns, and corporate responsibility trainings regarding civil rights and discrimination matters.[9]

While S.B. 540 overwhelmingly passed 36-9, some criticisms of the bill have come from members of the legislature that worry about government overreach.[10] Republican Delegate Matthew Morgan said during a house floor debate that the bill was a “government power grab” and granted the Attorney General’s office too much latitude to infringe upon the civil rights of individuals and businesses.[11]

Overall, the bill brings Maryland in line with similar powers held by the District of Columbia’s. Attorney General, who recently reached a $10 million settlement with three real estate firms  which demonstrated systemic unwillingness to rent apartment homes to low-income residents.[12] Similarly, Maryland is facing its own challenges regarding discrimination in employment and housing.[13] Just as recently as this year, a report from the University of Maryland found that home prices are persistently lower in areas of the state with higher percentages of minority residents. S.B. 540 will work to correct these discriminatory housing patterns and grant the State necessary power to fight for the civil rights of Marylanders with equal impact and resounding effect.

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Alexandria Hodge is a third-year J.D. Candidate at the University of Baltimore School of Law and an Associate Editor for Law Forum. A former high school English and Special Education reading teacher, Alexandria is currently a judicial law clerk for the Office of Administrative Law Judges, Office of Hearings and Appeals at the United States Department of Education. Prior to law school, she received her M.Ed. in Education at the University College London in 2016 and her MSc.Ed. in Interdisciplinary Education Studies: Urban Education Policy at the Johns Hopkins University in 2021. After graduation, Alexandria will be joining the School Law Division at Stock & Leader, where she will serve as a School Board Attorney for public school districts in central Pennsylvania.

Read more: Senate Bill 540 Expands the Power of the Attorney General’s Office to Enforce Federal and State Civil Rights Laws

[1] William J. Ford, Legislature Advancing Bills to Expand AG’s Authority to Enforce Civil Rights Laws, Oversee Correctional Facilities, Md. Matters (Mar. 29, 2023), https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/03/29/legislature-advancing-bills-to-expand-ags-authority-to-enforce-civil-rights-laws-oversee-correctional-facilities/.

[2] Id.

[3] A parallel version of the bill, H.B. 772, received House approval. Steve Lash, Bill Enabling Attorney General to Fight Bias in Court Clears House Hurdle, Daily Record (Mar. 28, 2023), https://thedailyrecord.com/2023/03/28/bill-enabling-attorney-general-to-fight-bias-in-court-clears-house-hurdle/.

[4] Ford, supra note 1; S.B. 686, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Md. 2023).

[5] Ford, supra note 1.

[6] Id.

[7] Lash, supra note 3.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.

[12] Lash, supra note 3.

[13] Maggie Haslam, UMD Report Reveals Racial Disparities in Owning, Financing a Home in Maryland, U. of Md.: Md. Today (Mar. 6, 2023), https://today.umd.edu/umd-report-reveals-racial-disparities-in-owning-financing-a-home-in-maryland;  Hispanic, Black Langley Park Tenants Sue Landlord, Allege Housing Bias, Md. Daily Record (Jul. 21, 2021), https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/07/21/hispanic-black-langley-park-tenants-sue-landlord-allege-housing-bias/;  Feds Launch Investigation into Maryland State Police Over Alleged Racially Discriminatory Hiring, Promotions, CBS Balt. (Jul. 15, 2022), https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/feds-launch-investigation-into-maryland-state-police-over-alleged-racially-discriminatory-hiring-promotions/.