June 14th 2017- Applications for the Baltimore City Police Department consent decree are now available for review. Twenty-six applications have been submitted and include local groups as well as firms from outside of the city.
Applications can be viewed here.
Starting at noon on Friday, May 12, Baltimore Action Legal Team bailed out 6 individuals who were all being held on minor charges because they could not afford to pay bail. BALT partnered with Baltimore Jail Support who provided support upon their release, including emotional support, water, food, transportation, and basic first aid for people being released from Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Facility. People who were bailed out ranged in age from 20 to 44. It cost as little as $100 to as much as $1,000 to secure their freedom. The effort took around the clock work, clearing up wrong information, and waiting hours in the room to greet moms with gift baskets. Although bails were posted as early as 1 PM on Friday May 12 - no one emerged from Central Booking until almost 3 AM the following morning. The last person was not freed until Saturday morning.
Under the terms of the City of Baltimore Consent Decree, an Independent Monitor (“Monitor”), which will include a team of individuals with expertise in policing, civil rights, monitoring, data analysis, project management, and related areas, as well as local experience and expertise with the diverse communities of Baltimore, to assess and report on whether the requirements of this Agreementhave been implemented and provide Technical Assistance in achieving compliance.
BALT is working with nearly two dozen local and national groups across the country to come together for the first ever National Mamas Bail Out Day. This historic event will bail out Black mothers so they can be reunited with their families and communities for Mother’s Day. We will free birth mothers, trans mothers, and other women who support families and communities from the criminal legal system. Together we are working to dismantle the inhumane cash bail system. We need your support to reunite as many mothers as possible with their loved ones.
BALTIMORE, MD. | April 21, 2017 - Kaiser Permanente and CommonHealth ACTION have announced that the Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Equitable Leadership - which will develop leadership skills to help community and business leaders increase their positive impact in Baltimore City - will launch in early May. The Baltimore Action Legal Team, Chase Brexton Health Care, Dovecote Café, Intersection of Change, and New Lens will comprise the first class of the Institute.
The Institute for Equitable Leadership brings together nonprofit and for-profit entities to improve the health of Baltimore residents and encourage local leaders to develop leadership skills that are grounded in equity, diversity and inclusion. Joined by community partners Maryland Nonprofits and Equity Matters, Inc., Kaiser Permanente and CommonHealth ACTION are launching the Institute to increase nonprofit capacity to address determinants of health to promote equitable experiences and life outcomes in Baltimore City.
My name is Jenny Egan, and I am a founding member of the Baltimore Action Legal Team or BALT. BALT was formed in the wake of the killing of Freddie Gray and the subsequent Baltimore Uprising. BALT believes that centuries of state sponsored violence against Black people and specific police actions led to the events of April 2015. Unfortunately, much of that state sponsored violence is codified in our legal system. This reality requires federal, state, and local government action to effectively remedy past harms and prevent a continued pattern of state violence.
I’d first like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this month marks the two-year anniversary of the killing of Freddie Gray. Whatever else is said today, we should remember that a 25-year-old young man had to die at the hands of BPD for us to get to this table. And not just Freddie. Tyrone West. Kimani Johnson. Tyree Woodson. An endless list of men, women, and children who have been subjected to violence and death at the hands of the Baltimore Police Department. BALT seeks a fair and equitable agreement on their behalf.