Every time I speak with an attorney—regardless of their background or experience—as soon as they hear that Byron was convicted on the Eastern Shore, in Wicomico County, Maryland, their expression changes.
Without fail, they shake their heads. Some sigh. Others go silent. But the message is always the same: “That’s one of the worst places.”
One ACLU attorney recently responded with visible concern and said plainly, “Oh no. Wicomico County. I hate to hear that.”
This reaction is not rare—it is consistent. The legal system in that region carries a deep and troubling reputation for harshness, bias, and a pattern of disproportionately punishing Black and Brown individuals. Byron’s case is not just about one person—it is a symptom of a systemic injustice tied to a place that many in the legal field already know is broken.
The average sentence length for sentenced inmates in Maryland in Fiscal Year 2023 was over 19 years (233.1 months). - Maryland State Archives
Maryland’s incarceration rate is ~475 per 100,000 residents—higher than the vast majority of democracies. Prison Policy Initiative
A report by The Sentencing Project noted that sentences in excess of 20 years in Maryland, in most cases, do not serve significant public safety interests—and that there is a statewide movement for “second‑look”/review of long sentences.
Racial disparity within sentencing: In a report by the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP), for circuit court cases from 2018‑2020, the median guidelines midpoint for Black individuals was 5.7 years versus 3.6 years for White individuals. That suggests Black defendants, on average, faced a higher expected sentence length. Maryland Criminal Sentencing Policy
While the average sentence in our state is nearly two decades, in Wicomico County, the reactions I get from lawyers suggest the reality often exceeds that average—both in severity and in local reputation.
Byron’s sentence (and others like it) is excessive compared not just to the average but to evidence‑based standards.
The racial data offers support for my assertion of systemic inequity: e.g., Black individuals have higher expected guideline sentences in Maryland—this supports the claim of location + race informing differential outcomes.
The lack of specific published sentence‑length data for Wicomico County can itself point to the opacity of local data combined with the consistent anecdotal reactions I get (lawyers “shaking their heads”) creating a compelling narrative of hidden severity.
These reactions fuel my fight and remind me why this petition matters. Your support is not only for Byron—it is a call to expose and confront the injustices that continue to devastate lives in regions like Wicomico County.
We are not just telling a story—we are telling THE story of how injustice hides in plain sight. And we will not stop.