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After several legislative attempts in past years fell short, beginning Friday, civilians will have the right to request to review police misconduct records.
, named after 19-year-old Anton Black, who died in police custody in 2018, will declassify police administrative and criminal misconduct records from personnel records to public records, allowing them to be inspected by civilians through the Maryland Public Information Act.
鈥淟et me be clear, we are not seeking justice for Anton because justice would have been Anton being alive today 鈥� with his daughter, with his family, with the very community that raised him,鈥� Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery), the bill鈥檚 House sponsor, said at a news conference Thursday. 鈥淏ut what we can get and what we鈥檙e fighting for is accountability 鈥� that will not only ensure transparency but ensure that those members of the public who are seeking information about investigative and misconduct records, that that information is not only accessible but we鈥檙e changing the way law enforcement operates in our communities.鈥�
The law also puts limits on when no-knock search warrants can be utilized by police agencies, alters the standard requirements placed on general search warrants and requires law enforcement agencies to provide annual summarized data reports regarding their use of search warrants to the Governor鈥檚 Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services.
Acevero and Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City), the bill鈥檚 Senate sponsor, unsuccessfully worked two versions of legislation bearing Black鈥檚 name in the General Assembly before their bill passed in 2021.
鈥淢y hope is that with the passage of Anton鈥檚 Law, we will no longer allow the patterns and practices of unconstitutional policing 鈥� and most importantly, we will save lives by preventing other heinous, brutal, extrajudicial killings such as that of Anton Black,鈥� Carter said Thursday.
On Sept. 15, 2018, Black was chased on foot by police to his Greensboro home, forcibly dragged from a locked car, put in restraints and subdued under the weight of law enforcement officers for several minutes.
He died on the ground, feet away from the entrance of his mother鈥檚 home.
鈥淥ut of fear, this mother, this loving mother, Anton鈥檚 mother, had to compose herself the entire time while they聽were killing her son,鈥� said Ren茅 Swafford, an attorney representing the Black family. 鈥淎nd even in the midst of her pain, her anguish and her fear, she was the only one on the scene that night that did anything to try and de-escalate the situation.鈥�
Carter said that Anton was 鈥渙ne of 31 extrajudicial killings鈥� in Maryland in 2018.
鈥淭hey threw him on the ground, they beat him, they choked him. He鈥檚 crying for his mother,鈥� said Anton鈥檚 father, Antone Black. 鈥淢y son was George Floyd before George Floyd, and there鈥檚 no justice, so far, for Anton Black, and there鈥檚 no peace for me.鈥�
According to an聽聽published by聽The Baltimore Sun, Maryland鈥檚 former chief medical examiner, Dr. David Fowler, ruled that sudden cardiac death with factors contributed by Black鈥檚 diagnosis of bipolar disorder was the cause of his death.
贵辞飞濒别谤听聽during the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd case. In his expert testimony, Fowler ruled that Floyd聽, but because of sudden cardiac arrest exacerbated by drug use and potential carbon monoxide poisoning from vehicle exhaust.
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) called for an聽聽during his nearly 20-year tenure.
鈥楾he murders will not stop鈥�
The Black family struggled for months to access police and autopsy records following his death.
Black鈥檚 sister, LaToya Holley,聽聽before the House Judiciary Committee in 2020 that only after the media pressed Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to comment on the case did they receive any State Police or Medical Examiner reports.
Holley said Thursday that, in the meantime, her brother was 鈥渄emonized purposefully and was made out to be this really bad young man to 鈥� prevent the media from actually reporting accurate information.鈥�
鈥淭hey took the narrative that was provided to them by the law enforcement officers and ran with it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is something that I鈥檝e never forgotten; of course it鈥檚 forgiven, but the killings aren鈥檛 going to stop.鈥�
One of the police professionals who pursued Black, former Greensboro officer Thomas Webster IV, had multiple use of force reports on his record during his time as an officer on a Delaware police force.
Kenneth Ravenell, an attorney for the Black family, said that, while working in Delaware, Webster 鈥渁ssaulted over 29鈥� Black people, and that the Caroline County police chief 鈥渇alsified records鈥� to allow him to work in Maryland.
Webster has since been聽聽by the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, though he was聽聽in Black鈥檚 death.
In December 2020, the Black family and the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black, backed by the ACLU of Maryland,聽聽a wrongful death聽聽in federal court against the state, the town of Greensboro, Fowler and Webster, among other municipalities, medical experts and members of law enforcement.
The lawsuit asserts that excessive force, racial bias and 鈥減ositional asphyxiation鈥� 鈥� rather than Fowler鈥檚 ruling of a cardiac condition 鈥� caused Black鈥檚 death.
Ravenell, who represents the Black family in the suit, said that law enforcement is trying to get the case dismissed on the basis of聽.
Qualified immunity is a Maryland law that exempts state and municipal employees from civil liability for actions that infringe upon the rights of others if they fall within the scope of their job description, were objectively reasonable or were enacted without malice or gross negligence.
鈥淲e know that until we get rid of things like qualified immunity 鈥� when these police officers have this protection under the law that the Constitution never guaranteed them 鈥� that we are not going to get justice and the murders will not stop,鈥� said Ravenell.
In addition to Anton鈥檚 Law, a bill sponsored by Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) that limits law enforcement鈥檚 ability to procure military equipment and would set forth a process to independently investigate use of force incidents that result in death will also go into effect Friday.
