Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has vetoed legislation that would have barred colleges from asking about a prospective student’s criminal history on applications. The Republican governor wrote in a letter explaining his veto of the two bills from both chambers of the state’s Legislature that he felt student safety would be jeopardized.
“This could lead to situations where a school unknowingly admits a student with a violent past or feels it must accept a student with a criminal history for fear of running afoul of the law,” Hogan wrote.
Hogan noted in his letter that the legislation did not differentiate between a felony crime -- like a sexual assault -- and a misdemeanor.
The bills did allow institutions to include a question about criminal history on applications through a third party, if the institution posted a notice on its website that criminal history does not disqualify an applicant from being admitted. FULL ARTICLE