4/9/2025: Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and Public Defender Natasha M. Dartigue Applaud Successful Passage of Legislation Reforming the Criminal Legal System New Laws Adopt Recommendations of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative
3/17/2025: MOPD Celebrates Gideon Day: Honoring the Landmark Decision in Public Defense
3/13/2025: Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) Releases Comprehensive Report and Issues Recommendations to Address Mass Incarceration of Black Marylanders and Other Marginalized Groups.
1/13/2025: Office of the Public Defender to Hold Rally on Key Issues for the Legislative Session
12/12/2024: History Made: Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) Passes Recommendations to Address Mass Incarceration of Black Marylanders in State Prisons and Jails
5/17/2024: Lack of Running Water at Jail Creates Deplorable Conditions; Assistant Public Defenders in Baltimore City File Emergency Habeas Petitions
2/28/2024: Statement of Maryland Public Defender Natasha M. Dartigue in Response to Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Passage of SB 744 with Amendments.
2/26/2024: Statement of Maryland Public Defender Natasha M. Dartigue in Response to House Judiciary Committee Passage of HB 814 with Amendments.
1/31/2024: Statement of Maryland Public Defender Natasha M. Dartigue in Response to the Introduction of HB 814/SB 744.
9/12/2023: Maryland Office of the Public Defender Launches Better Together: Early Family Advocacy Program
7/10/2023: Maryland Office of the Public Defender Releases Resource Guide of Services for Justice-Involved Children in the Baltimore Region
4/26/2023: Motion for Reconsideration Filed on Behalf of Adnan Syed
4/11/2023: Maryland Public Defender and Baltimore City District Public Defender Denounce Call for Enforcing Youth Curfew
1/30/2023: Statement by Maryland Public Defender Natasha M. Dartigue on the Killing of Tyre Nichols
1/13/2023: OPD Client Keith Davis Finally Free from Prosecution
12/7/2022: Association for the Public Defender of Maryland (APDM) Receives Grant from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to Connect Justice-Involved Youth in Prince George’s County with Behavioral Health Services
10/11/2022: Adnan Syed’s Case Is Dismissed After DNA Results Confirm His Innocence
10/6/2022: Juvenile Restoration Act Secures the Freedom of 23 Individuals in the First Year of its Implementation
9/14/2022: Parties Seek to Overturn Adnan Syed’s Conviction
9/7/2022: Maryland Public Defender and Prince George’s County District Public Defender Decry Youth Curfew in Prince George’s County
9/6/2022: Angela Oetting Named Acting District Public Defender for Frederick and Washington Counties
8/30/2022: Court of Appeals Holds that Court Personnel Wearing Thin Blue Line Masks was Inherently Prejudicial
7/6/2022: Marguerite E. Lanaux Named Acting District Public Defender for Baltimore City;
Alycia Capozello to become the Acting Deputy District Public Defender
5/19/2022: Natasha Dartigue, Acting District Public Defender for Baltimore City, is Appointed as the Next Maryland Public Defender
1/13/2022: Independent Gun Trace Task Force Investigation Report Documents Extensive, Ingrained Corruption; Public Disclosure and Independent Investigations Urgently Needed
6/21/2021: In Aftermath of Video Depicting Excessive Police Force, Public Defender Calls for the Implementation of Body Worn Cameras by Ocean City Police
6/14/2021: Public Defender Testifies In Support of Proposal to Allow Courts to Reduce Sentences for Rehabilitated Prisoners After They Have Served a Lengthy Period of Time
6/1/2021: Erica Suter Named Director of the University of Baltimore/Maryland Office of the Public Defender Innocence Project Clinic
5/5/2021: Public Defenders, NAACP File Federal Court Challenge Demanding Immediate Removal of Racist Confederate Statue from Eastern Shore Courthouse
11/23/2020: Public Defender Demands Postponement of District Court Hearings in Light of COVID
9/17/2020: Public Defenders Testify About Police Violence and Misconduct Statewide; Need for Police Accountability, Transparency, and Reform
6/19/2020: Prince George’s County District Public Defender Calls for Reforms and Reduced Policing
6/10/2020: Juvenile Defenders Join Call to Remove School Resource Officers from the Prince George’s County Public Schools
6/8/2020: Maryland Public Defenders March for Black Lives and Demand Racial Justice
5/20/2020: Public Defender Applauds Governor for Requiring Universal Testing at Maryland’s State Run Correctional and Juvenile Facilities
5/18/2020: After Major Outbreak Confirmed at Youth Facility in Carroll County, Public
Defender Demands Testing for All Children in DJS Custody
4/15/2020: Chief Judge Issues Second Order Addressing Decarceration in Light of COVID-19, Directing Trial Judges to Immediately Consider Release of At-Risk Inmates
4/14/2020: Chief Judge Orders All Local Administrative Judges to Immediately
Consider Release in Individual Cases
4/4/2020: To Stem the Crisis of COVID-19 in Prisons and Jail, the Office of the Public Defender Asks Court of Appeals to Exercise its Emergency Powers
4/3/2020: Defenders Petition Court for Mass Release of Children in Maryland’s Juvenile Jails and Prisons; Demand DJS #BringOurKidsHome
3/18/2020: Public Defender Applauds Dismissal of Minor Charges as Effort to Stem the Spread of COVID-19 in Baltimore City Jail
3/13/2020: Statements by Leadership from the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and its Baltimore City Office Regarding COVID-19
2/24/2020: Public Defender Seeks to Identify Cases Potentially Impacted by Breach of Salisbury Police Department
11/25/2019: Three Juvenile Lifers Exonerated After Spending 36 Years in Prison
5/3/2019: Brothers Exonerated and Released After a Combined 50 Years’ Incarceration
12/18/2018: Exonerated Client Released After 27 Years' Incarceration
12/6/2018: Statement of Kirsten Getty-Downs, District Public Defender for Baltimore City, Regarding Police Corruption By Former BPD Officer Matthew Ryckman
3/12/2018: Court Observation Project Finds Minimal Use of Money Bail with Reliance on Held Without Bail for Some Charges; Recommends More Robust Pretrial Services and Other Measures
3/9/2018: Baltimore City District Public Defender Responds to City Solicitor and State’s Attorney’s Announcement to “Streamline” the Obligation to Disclose BPD Officer Internal Affairs Documents to Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases
2/21/2018: Baltimore City Felony Trial Chief To Testify at BPD Commissioner Confirmation Hearing; Demands Transparency and Accountability to Root Out Corruption
11/30/2017: New Charges Against Previously Indicted Officer Underscores Widespread, Lengthy Nature of BPD Corruption; Individuals in Cases Impacted Remain Wrongly Incarcerated
9/28/2017: Public Defender Applauds Contempt Order Due to Health Officials’ Disregard of Obligation to Admit Individuals Committed for Hospitalization
9/12/2017: District Public Defender and Director of Juvenile Justice Policy Testify at Legislative Briefing on Public Safety in Baltimore
7/31/2017: Another Problematic Police Body-Worn Camera Video Identified; Baltimore State’s Attorney Still Failing to Disclose Information in Impacted Cases
7/25/2017: District Public Defender Submits Written Testimony in Opposition of Mandatory Minimum Sentence Bill
7/20/2017: Office of the Public Defender Concerned by Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Disregard for Disclosure Obligations and Failure to Develop Clear Policies and Protocols
7/19/2017: Public Defender Discloses Video Evidence of Officers Planting Drugs; Demands Swift Action by Prosecutors and Thorough Review by Police
3/23/2017: Convictions from 2015 Onward Involving Indicted Officers to be Vacated
3/7/2017: OPD Sets Up Hotline for Individuals with Cases Involving Indicted Officers
11/17/2016: Public Defender Supports Proposed Rule Change; Revisions Needed to Address the Millions of Dollars in Bail Premiums Extracted from Maryland Communities.
11/15/2016: Maryland Communities Paid More Than $256 Million in Corporate Bail Bond Premiums Between 2011 and 2015, Often in Cases Where There Was Ultimately No Finding of Wrongdoing
10/11/2016: OPD Endorses Attorney General Advisory Opinion, Urges the End of Jailing Presumptively Innocent People Solely Because They are Too Poor to Pay Bail
8/24/2016: OPD Statement on the Baltimore Police Department’s Secret Aerial Surveillance Program
8/10/2016: OPD Applauds DOJ Report, Urges Greater Transparency by the Baltimore City Police Department
2/2/2016: OPD Applauds Supreme Court Decision, Furthers Effort to Address Juvenile Life and Life Without Parole Sentences in Maryland
9/23/2015: Press Release on Shackling of Children in Court
5/7/2015: Police Continue to Illegally Arrest Children in Baltimore
4/29/2015: Unlawful Detention of Over 230 Inmates in Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Facility
8/22/2014: Public Defender Calls for Removal and Investigation of Judge who Ordered Officer to Shock Defendant in Court
7/10/2013: OPD and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Partner to Assist Individuals Impacted by Unger v. State
