General Assembly Photo
Senator Bobby Zirkin, chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, announced he plans to resign next month before the start of the 2020 General Assembly session. Senator Zirkin has served in the General Assembly since 1999.
From the Baltimore Sun article,
Zirkin counts among his biggest accomplishments the passage of Grace’s Law, an anti-cyberbullying bill inspired by Grace McComas, a Howard County teenager who died by suicide in 2012 after being bullied through social media. The law sets criminal penalties for using electronic media for bullying.
Zirkin also said he takes pride in Maryland’s ban on hydraulic fracturing, a form of drilling for natural gas that’s also known as “fracking.” Fracking was once proposed for Western Maryland, where some had raised concerns that it could contaminate drinking water wells and damage streams.
He played a key role in the state’s Justice Reinvestment Act, a 2016 law that aims to reduce the prison population by eliminating certain mandatory minimum sentences and directing low-level drug offenders into treatment instead of jail. Zirkin said the bill is “the most far-reaching criminal justice reform in the country.”
Senator Zirkin said he plans to focus on his law practice and a new venture helping professional athletes with their charitable work.
The Manis Canning team thanks him for his leadership and wishes him the best in all future endeavors.
