Jill Carter
Member of theMaryland Senate from the41st district
In office May 4, 2018 – January 3, 2025
Appointed by	Larry Hogan
Preceded by	Nathaniel T. Oaks
Succeeded by	Dalya Attar
Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the 41st district
In office January 8, 2003 – January 2, 2017 Serving with Nathaniel T. Oaks,Samuel I. Rosenberg
Preceded by	Wendell Phillips
Succeeded by	Bilal Ali
Personal details
Born	(1964-06-18)June 18, 1964 (age 60) Baltimore,Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Relatives	Walter P. Carter (father)
Education	Loyola University Maryland (BA) University of Baltimore (JD)
Signature
Website	Campaign website Official website

Jill Priscilla Carter (born June 18, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who was a member of theMaryland Senate from 2018 to 2025, representing the41st district inBaltimore. She previously represented the district in theMaryland House of Delegates from 2003 until her resignation in 2017.

Carter is the daughter of the lateWalter P. Carter, a civil rights activist and leader in the desegregation movement inMaryland in the 1960s and early 1970s. Her mother, Zerita Joy Carter, was a public school teacher specializing in Early Childhood Education.^[1] Carter graduatedWestern High School in Baltimore. Carter received her B.A. in English fromLoyola College in Maryland in 1988 and a Juris Doctor from theUniversity of Baltimore School of Law in 1992.^[2][3]

After graduating from the University of Baltimore, Carter served as a clerk to Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kenneth L. Johnson until 1993, afterwards working at various law firms before practicing law as a sole practitioner in 1998. In the same year, she also founded the Walter P. Carter Foundation.^[3]

Carter has been involved in politics since she was young, when she campaigned forParren Mitchell.^[4]

In 2002, Carter ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 41. She won the Democratic primary in September 2002, placing first with 18.2 percent and ousting incumbent state delegate Wendell F. Phillips.^[5] She won the general election and was sworn in on January 8, 2003. During her tenure in the House of Delegates, she was a member of the Judiciary Committee.^[3]

Carter has often been referred to as a lone voice in the wilderness for her challenges to established politicians on matters of adequate housing for the poor,^[6]lead poisoning of children, to adequately fund public education, both in the legislature,^[7][8] and in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City,^[9] and, in 2007, calling for a special session of the legislature to deal with theBGE utility rate increase.^[10][11][12]

In 2016, Carter served as a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention, pledged to U.S. SenatorBernie Sanders. Following the convention, she endorsed Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton, saying that the prospect of aTrump presidency left her with no other option.^[13]

On December 30, 2016, Carter resigned from the Maryland House of Delegates to become the director of the Baltimore Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement under Baltimore mayorCatherine Pugh.^[14] In this capacity, she handled citizens' law enforcement-related complaints and oversaw the implementation of the Civilian Review Board.^[15][16][17]

On January 16, 2007, Carter announced her candidacy in the2007 Baltimore mayoral election, seeking to succeedMartin O'Malley following hiselection as governor of Maryland.^[18] Her platform included promises to replace the entire police command staff within theBaltimore Police Department, increase the city's education funding to 20 percent of its budget, and creating an advisory panel of former police commissioners.^[19] Carter was defeated by incumbent mayorSheila Dixon in the Democratic primary on September 11, 2007, placing fourth with 2.8 percent of the vote.^[20]

In February 2018, Carter filed to run for theMaryland Senate in District 41, challenging incumbent state senatorNathaniel T. Oaks, who had been indicted on federal corruption charges.^[21] In the primary election, she sought to position herself as an outsider and an "independent voice" in the legislature,^[22] citing her participation in the "Take a Hike, Mike" rally outside theMaryland State House opposing Senate presidentThomas V. Miller Jr.^[23] Her campaign was backed byCatherine Pugh,Bernard C. Young, and various local pastors and labor unions.^[24]

After Oaks resigned from the state senate in March 2018, Carter applied and was nominated alongside central committee member Joyce J. Smith by the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee to fill the remainder of his term.^[23] She was appointed by GovernorLarry Hogan on April 30, 2018,^[25] and sworn in on May 4 after resigning as director of the Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement.^[26] She won the Democratic primary in June 2018, defeating J. D. Merrill, the son-in-law of former GovernorMartin O'Malley with 54.9 percent of the vote.^[27]

Carter was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.^[3]

In December 2024, Carter announced that she would resign from the Maryland Senate on January 3, 2025, after GovernorWes Moore appointed her to the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals.^[28][29]

On November 18, 2019, Carter announced her candidacy in the2020 Maryland's 7th congressional district special election to succeed U.S. RepresentativeElijah Cummings after his death in October 2019.^[4][30] During the Democratic primary, she sought to position herself aprogressive, running on a platform that includedMedicare for All, theGreen New Deal, and ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars.^[31] She was defeated in the Democratic primary by former U.S. RepresentativeKweisi Mfume, placing third with 16 percent of the vote.^[32] Following her defeat, she said she would run in the regular election for the district, in which she again placed third with 8.7 percent of the vote.^[33]

Prior to her re-election in 2006, she became a vocal critic of then mayor (and later Governor)Martin O'Malley's "failed policing policies". She posited that the so-labeled, zero tolerance, arrest strategy failed to cause significant reduction in a soaring crime rate in Baltimore City, but, rather, pressured police officers to make tens of thousands of arrests that did not produce criminal charges.^[34][35] She also called for a federal investigation intoBaltimore Police Department practices.^[36]

In 2014, Carter introduced "Christopher's Law", a bill named for Baltimore County teen Christopher Brown, who died after being tackled by a police officer in 2012, that would require police officers to be trained in CPR. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor O'Malley.^[37][38]

During the 2019 legislative session, Carter introduced legislation to limit when employers could ask about a job applicant's criminal record. The bill passed and became law after the legislature overrode GovernorLarry Hogan's veto.^[39][40] She also introduced "Anton's Law", a bill that reformed theMaryland Public Information Act, to require transparency in investigations of complaints against law enforcement officers.^[41]

Carter was a vocal critic against a 2019 bill that would allowJohns Hopkins University to establish its own private police force, and was one of two state senators to vote against the bill in the Maryland Senate.^[42][43] In 2021, amid theGeorge Floyd protests, she called for hearings on the repeal of the JHU police authorization bill.^[44] In July 2021, after JHU announced that it would move forward with its plans to create a private police force, Carter called the university's decision a "terrible miscalculation" that was "tone deaf" to the concerns raised by students, faculty, and community members.^[45]

In 2020, Carter voted against the Violent Firearms Offenders Act, a bill introduced by Governor Hogan to strengthen penalties on gun offenders, criticizing it as "more of the same oldtough-on-crime mentality that has failed to reduce crime over the long term".^[46] She also introduced a bill to increase state funding for violence intervention programs to at least $3 million annually, which passed but was vetoed by Hogan; the legislature overrode his veto during the 2021 legislative session.^[47]

During the 2021 legislative session, Carter introduced legislation to repeal theLaw Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights. She voted against the bill in committee after a provision allowing police departments to hand disciplinary decisions over to an independent civilian oversight board was removed.^[48] The bill passed and became law after the legislature overrode Governor Hogan's veto of the bill.^[49] She also reintroduced Anton's Law, which passed and became law;^[50] and introduced another bill to implement a statewidepolice use of force policy;^[51] and supported a bill to limitno-knock warrants.^[52]

In 2022, Carter introduced a bill that would reform the state's juvenile sentencing rules, including a ban on confinement for first-time misdemeanor offenses unless a crime involved a gun, and prohibited police from interrogating children without first allowing them to speak to an attorney.^[53] The bill passed and became law without Governor Hogan's signature.^[54] She also introduced a bill to require police officers convicted of a crime committed while on duty to forfeit all or part of their pensions.^[55]

During the 2023 legislative session, Carter introduced a bill that would require private security guards to be licensed by the state, and establish minimum training standards for security agencies.^[56] The bill passed and was signed into law by GovernorWes Moore.^[57] She also introduced a bill that would repeal a law that automatically charges minors as adults with serious crimes, which failed to move out of committee.^[58]

During the 2004 legislative session, Carter introduced a bill to expand the Baltimore school board from nine members to thirteen, including five appointed members and seven elected members.^[59]

In March 2013, Carter said she supported Governor Martin O'Malley's bill to ban assault-type rifles and require a license to purchase a handgun.^[60]

In April 2016, after the Baltimore police shot a 14-year-old boy carrying a BB gun that resembled a pistol, Carter introduced legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of imitation guns.^[61]

During the 2023 legislative session, Carter opposed anIvan Bates-backed bill to increase penalties for illegal gun possession. During debate on the bill, she introduced an amendment to allow people convicted on illegal gun possession charges to apply forprobation before judgment, which initially passed before being removed from the bill following amotion for reconsideration.^[62]

During the 2009 legislative session, Carter introduced legislation to prohibit the closure of theWalter P Carter Center psychiatric hospital.^[63]

Carter supportsMedicare for All. In 2020, she and state delegateGabriel Acevero introduced a bill to establish a universalsingle-payer health care system in Maryland.^[64][65]

In 2019, Carter voted against a bill to loosen ownership limits on marijuana dispensaries, expressing concern that the bill did not consider the state's equity goals.^[66]

In 2021, Carter introduced a bill that would decriminalize the possession ofmarijuana paraphernalia,^[67] and later said she was "heartbroken" after the bill did not come up for a veto override vote following Governor Larry Hogan's veto.^[68] During the 2022 legislative session, Carter introduced legislation to legalize recreational marijuana.^[69] She voted against a bill establishing aballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland, saying that she believed it was more important to "hammer out details of licensing and community reparation funds".^[70] In 2023, after voters approved of Question 4, Carter expressed concern with equity within the marijuana industry.^[71] She also introduced a bill to ban vehicle searches based on cannabis odor,^[72] which passed and became law without GovernorWes Moore's signature.^[73]

In October 2002, Carter appeared in an ad to supportQuestion P, a referendum to reduce the size of theBaltimore City Council.^[74]

During the 2011 legislative session, Carter co-sponsored theCivil Marriage Protection Act, which would legalizesame-sex marriage in Maryland. However, she staged a walkout during a committee vote on the bill, which she said was to draw attention to "more important, or at least equally important" issues of education funding cuts in Baltimore and child custody in divorces.^[75] She did not co-sponsor the bill when it was reintroduced in 2012,^[76] but voted for it when it came up for a vote in the House.^[77] During the 2023 legislative session, she introduced a bill to prohibit discrimination againsttransgender andintersex individuals in state prisons.^[78]

In June 2015, Carter signed onto a letter calling for the renaming ofRobert E. Lee Park.^[79] In 2016, Carter introduced a bill to destroy theRoger B. Taney Monument at theMaryland State House. She later amended the bill to send the statue to theMaryland State Archives.^[80]

During the 2019 legislative session, Carter introduced a bill to prohibitUniversity of Maryland Medical System board members from holding no-bid contracts with the system. The bill helped prompt theBaltimore Sun's investigation,^[81] which found that nine UMMS board members, including Baltimore mayorCatherine Pugh, had business deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with the hospital network,^[82] the bill unanimously passed theMaryland General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.^[83] After Pugh resigned amid the UMMS contracts controversy, Carter said that she had made a "mistake" in endorsing Pugh in2016.^[84]

In April 2019, Carter joined Republicans in voting against a bill to eliminate thestatute of limitations on child sexual assault lawsuits, causing it to deadlock in committee.^[85] She later voted against the bill on the Senate floor, which she called a difficult vote but added that she felt that "our law in its current form is enough".^[86]

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