Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown

Maryland Office of the Attorney General

Keynote Speaker, Lunch Program & Keynote Address

Anthony G. Brown assumed office as Maryland's 47th Attorney General on January 3, 2023, the first African American to hold the position in Maryland’s history. Previously, Attorney General Brown​ represented the 4th Congressional District from 2017 to 2023, served as Maryland Lieutenant Governor from 2007 to 2015, and served in the Maryland House of Delegates as Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Majority Whip from 1999 to 2007.

Since taking office, Attorney General Brown established the Office of Equity, Policy, and Engagement, a first for the Attorney General’s office, to focus on strategies, initiatives, policies, and practices that will promote equity and fairness in Maryland’s civil, criminal, and administrative systems of justice. In 2023, Attorney General Brown successfully advocated for the passage of legislation creating a Civil Rights Division, expanding the Independent Investigations Division’s prosecutorial authority, and establishing a permanent Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention. In October 2023, Attorney General Brown partnered with Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue to create the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC), a first-of-its-kind initiative dedicated to reducing mass incarceration and the disparate incarceration of African Americans and other marginalized groups in Maryland prisons and jails. MEJC’s goal is to examine and assess the scope and causes of this crisis, and to develop a data-driven approach to addressing it.

With a longstanding commitment to improving the lives of all Marylanders, Attorney General Brown’s priority has always been justice and equity. As Lieutenant Governor, he advocated for the repeal of the death penalty, decriminalization of cannabis, expansion of record expungements, stringent background checks and training requirements for gun sales, and banning of large-capacity magazines and certain assault rifles. In Congress, Attorney General Brown again championed common-sense gun safety laws, measures to expand access to the ballot, the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, and he was a lead sponsor on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He worked in the General Assembly and in Congress to expand protections for victims of domestic violence, abused and neglected children, and veterans with unmet mental and behavioral health needs.