Maryland gov announces closure of notorious Baltimore jail

“Given the space that we have, it makes no sense whatsoever to keep this deplorable facility open”.

Problems with the jail have bedeviled state officials for years and spanned Democratic and Republican administrations, providing a steady flow of ammunition for political sniping.

“The Baltimore City Detention Center has been a black eye for our state for far too long”, Hogan said. He blasted O’Malley for his response to a sweeping federal indictment in 2013, which exposed a sophisticated drug-and cellphone-smuggling ring involving dozens of gang members and correctional officers at the jail.

Following the FBI’s investigation, almost 50 people were indicted on federal corruption charges – including 27 correctional officers – that alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion, CNN reported. Thirty-five defendants pleaded guilty; eight defendants went to trial and one defendant died. For his part, White pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Hogan criticized O’Malley for characterizing the indictments at the time as a positive step in rooting out corruption.

The agencies also said the state failed to cure systemic problems since taking control 25 years ago, despite entering into a 2007 agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Larry Hogan, second from right, arrives at Baltimore City Detention Center, Thursday, July 30, 2015, in Baltimore, before speaking at a news conference to announce his plan to immediately shut down the jail. James Ed DeGrange, D-Anne Arundel, and Guy Guzzone, D-Howard.

Hogan said the jail conditions were unfit, citing crumbling infrastructure and health hazards.

“We were disappointed to receive notice of Governor Hogan’s plans through the media”, said Sens.

All the while Hogan and Public Safety Secretary Stephen Moyer were talking to reporters, prisoners were calling out from the decaying jail cells above.

“The Civil War era jail was taken over by the state in 1991″, The Baltimore Sun reports, adding that the jail ” – which has 1,092 male inmates, including 145 awaiting trial – is part of a larger complex of corrections facilities just east of downtown Baltimore”. “Much of it is literally falling apart”.

“For years, the Black Guerilla gang maintained a stronghold over this facility”, the governor said. A special phone line has been created so relatives will be able to find them.

The Maryland Division of Correction informed the Maryland branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees about the planned closing of the jail at a meeting Thursday morning, union spokesman Jeff Pittman said.

Truss expects French investigators will also try to determine how the part separated from the rest of the aircraft, and whether it shows evidence of fire or other damage, which might explain how the plane crashed. The Men’s Detention Center, built in 1859, houses about 750 men who will be moved to nearby facilities.

“Since I have no reason to suspect that medical care is better in any other local correctional facility, I am greatly concerned that the short-term effects of closure, absent the most careful planning and reform, will exacerbate the medical and mental health failures to which detainees are subjected”, Alexander said in an email.