A federal class-action lawsuit filed in 2022 documented 14,000 cases of unconstitutional detention at Central Booking. Lawyers say the practice continues.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
When a judge in Baltimore signs a release order, the law says the person in custody must go free. At Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center, that has not always happened — and according to attorneys who have spent four years litigating the issue in federal court, it still is not happening reliably today.
A federal class-action lawsuit filed in 2022 by Baltimore civil rights attorney Cary J. Hansel claims that Central Booking, operated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS), routinely held thousands of detainees for hours, days, and in at least one case more than seven months after judges had already signed orders for their release. In June 2026, lawyers said the violations are ongoing.
“They are stealing people’s freedom.”
— Attorney Cary J. Hansel
The lawsuit — Palmer v. State of Maryland et al., filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland — alleges that between 2019 and 2021 alone, more than 14,000 people were held past their court-ordered release dates, collectively losing approximately 10 years of freedom. The average delay between a judge signing a release order and the actual release of a detainee was 12.6 hours. The median was 8 hours. One individual was held an additional 216 days.
“They are stealing people’s freedom,” Hansel has said of the facility’s practices.
A Process Built to Delay
The lawsuit and depositions taken in the case lay out how Central Booking’s own release procedures create the problem. After a judge signs what is called a “Release From Commitment” form, detainees must still pass through a series of internal checkpoints before they can walk out: identity verification, warrant and detainer checks, fingerprinting, mandatory medical unit processing, property return, and final sign-off by a lieutenant or supervisor.
Each step adds time. Supervisor review alone averaged nearly five hours — against an internal target of roughly 25 minutes. The mandatory medical unit visit added further delays even when detainees declined care. Hansel has argued that the mandatory medical stop, applied universally regardless of a detainee’s wishes or condition, itself constitutes unlawful detention after a judicial order. “You have no right to detain someone to go to medical,” he has said.
Jail officials in depositions acknowledged inefficiencies in the process and suggested that more staffing might help. DPSCS has declined to comment on the litigation.
Named Plaintiff: 22 Hours After a Judge Said Go
Jamien Palmer, the lead plaintiff in the suit, was arrested in March 2019 and brought to Central Booking on assault charges. A judge ordered him released on his own recognizance — meaning he had made no bail payment and was simply promised to appear at future court dates. He was then held for approximately 22 hours before being processed out.
Palmer described the holding area as severely overcrowded, with men standing shoulder-to-shoulder, no room to sit, no food, and little access to basic facilities. The charges against him were later dropped after video evidence placed him elsewhere — with his children — at the time of the alleged offense. He called the experience “awful” and “traumatizing.”
The average delay between a judge signing a release order and the actual release of a detainee was 12.6 hours. The median was 8 hours. One individual was held an additional 216 days.
Still Happening in 2026
Reporting published by the Baltimore Sun on June 3, 2026, confirmed that attorneys in the case say the over-detention problem persists. Defense lawyers cited continued instances of clients being held for days after release orders were signed. The Sun identified one detainee, Deric Miller, who said he feared he had been “lost in the system” as days passed after his release was ordered.
Hansel also referenced a case in which a man held for extra days after the lawsuit was filed was stabbed by a fellow detainee while still in custody due to the processing delay.
The case is still active. A hearing on class certification — which would allow the suit to formally represent the full population of over-detained individuals — was scheduled for late 2025. No final resolution has been reported.
Who Bears the Cost
Hansel has argued that the harm falls disproportionately on Baltimore’s poorest residents. Unlawful detention means lost wages for hourly workers, missed childcare, forfeited job interviews, and housing disruptions that can cascade into longer-term instability. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages — including hourly compensation for each class member’s over-detention — and injunctive relief requiring the facility to execute release orders promptly. Hansel has said any reasonable jury verdict would likely exceed $10 million.
Under constitutional doctrine, post-order detention without legal justification raises claims under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Courts have consistently held that once a judicial officer orders release, the state’s authority to detain evaporates — and continued custody, absent a new legal basis, is an unlawful seizure.
DPSCS operates Central Booking under the authority of the Moore administration. The agency has not publicly addressed the specific process failures identified in the litigation or described what, if any, corrective steps have been taken since the lawsuit was filed four years ago.
Sources: Palmer v. State of Maryland et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; Baltimore Sun reporting (October 14, 2025; June 3, 2026); public court filings; prior reporting on DPSCS operations and the Maryland detention system.
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