The Anti-Defamation League determined that Maryland is making “meaningful progress” on its legislative efforts aimed at combating an “alarming surge” in antisemitism.
The ADL’s newly launched Jewish Policy Index — the first interactive tool of its kind to evaluate each U.S. state’s actions to fight antisemitism through legislation, education and public policy — recognized Maryland as one of 29 “progressing” states, demonstrating a “strong policy foundation” and a “clear path for future advancement,” according to a press release.
“We are proud to see Maryland’s leadership reflected in the Jewish Policy Index, particularly through targeted legislation like the Antiswatting Act, expanded hate crimes policies, and mandated antisemitism training for school district personnel,” Tali Cohen, ADL Washington, D.C.’s regional director, said in a press release. “These efforts demonstrate a clear and actionable commitment to protecting vulnerable communities from violence and discrimination.”
The JPI evaluates each state in three policy areas: prioritization of fighting antisemitism, education about the Jewish experience and protection of Jewish communities. Virginia was deemed a “leading state” in each area.
The nine states leading the way according to the ADL include Virginia, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
Maryland reported 356 incidents of antisemitism in 2024, up 5% from 2023, and is considered a “progressing state” in Jewish education and protecting Jewish communities, with bonus points in each category, respectively, for providing grants to educators for Holocaust education and implementing a bias incident hotline.
The ADL determined that Maryland was a “limited action state” in prioritization of fighting antisemitism as it lacks an antisemitism task force and an overall state strategy in combating antisemitism, and has not adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.
The state currently has no legislation requiring Holocaust education in schools, no Holocaust education task force and no action to address antisemitism on college campuses. It has, however, earned an “excellent” rating for legislative or executive action to address antisemitism in K-12 schools.
Maryland was praised for its State Nonprofit Grants Program, hate crimes task force and laws against hate crimes, all of which protect Jewish communities, according to the ADL.
The missing two benchmarks include legislation prohibiting “masked harassment” and doxxing, the searching and publishing of private or identifying information about someone on the internet. Maryland received an “excellent” rating for its legislation prohibiting swatting, the false reporting of an emergency with the goal of sending an armed emergency response team to a victim’s location, according to a 2022 press release by the ADL.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan signed the bill “Task Force to Study the Practice Known as ‘Swatting’” into law in April 2022.
“Swatting has become a far too common and threatening tool for extremists, and this legislation creates a tangible vehicle for prohibiting it,” Meredith Weisel, the former ADL D.C. regional director who now serves as ADL’s vice president, state and local advocacy, said in the press release.
Maryland is actively working to prevent hate crimes through initiatives including the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention, enhanced reporting, community engagement and law enforcement training. The ADL recognized Maryland for several policy strengths.
The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights publicly condemned the rise in antisemitic acts in 2021 and restated its commitment to combating antisemitism in addition to all forms of hate and discrimination. In 2024, Maryland passed a bill to restructure its hate crimes commission and give the Maryland attorney general the ability to appoint the members of the commission.
A bill effective in July 2024 requires the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for antibias training for all public school employees for the inclusion of an antisemitism module required by each county board every two years. A subsequent piece of legislation in July 2025 expanded the law to include county school board members.
The state was also praised for the Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus, which works to advocate and support local Jewish communities.
