Legislative · State · MD
Maryland Senate Resolution SJ3 Would Apologize for State's Role in Racial Terror Lynchings
- Direction
- +0 — points in neither direction
- Force
- 0.10 — introduced or referred
- Status
- Developing
- Date
- 2026-02-16
Why this rating
As of this filing, SJ3 is a joint resolution still at the committee hearing stage with no vote or passage recorded; per the calibration rule, mere introduction/committee referral does not yet change conditions for freedmen descendants. Even if adopted, the resolution as described is an apology/acknowledgement that commits the state only to 'take reparative actions as recommended by' a separate commission, rather than enacting a funded or legally binding reparative program itself — a symbolic acknowledgement that caps at 0 under the rubric absent enacted force of law or funding tied directly to lineage-specific relief for descendants of lynching victims.
Summary
Maryland Senate Joint Resolution SJ3, sponsored by Sen. Charles Sydnor III and Sen. Malcolm Augustine, would have the state issue an apology and acknowledge Maryland's complicity and negligence in allowing racial terror lynchings to occur. The resolution also commits the state to taking reparative actions as recommended by the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The bill received its first reading in the Senate Education, Energy, and Environment Committee on 2026-02-06. A hearing originally scheduled for 2026-02-16 was canceled and rescheduled for 2026-03-12. As of the material provided, the bill has not advanced beyond committee referral and hearing scheduling — no vote, committee report, or passage has occurred.
The resolution's text as described commits the state to future reparative action 'as recommended by' the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, meaning any concrete reparative measures are deferred to that commission's recommendations rather than enacted directly by this joint resolution.
Sources
- Apology and Acknowledgement of the State's Responsibility in Racial Terror Lynchings — bill text · primary · legiscan
Corrections
- 2026-07-20 — Direction retained at 0: symbolic apology resolution carrying no funding or force of law, which the rubric rates 0. Force corrected 1.00 -> 0.10: introduced, not yet adopted.
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.