Baltimore court continues to work despite suspicious package 

Posted: 6:55 pm Wed, March 17, 2010
By Brendan Kearney
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

Another threatening package arrived at a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge’s chambers Wednesday, but there was no evacuation as law enforcement officers continued to investigate the courthouse mail system.

The Priority Mail package, which held a letter, white powder and a bullet, was at least the seventh of its kind to arrive since last week at the courthouses and City Hall, which was briefly evacuated Monday.

While little has been released about the subject matter or source of the letters, the one received Monday by Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. might contain a hint as to the writer’s motivation. Using vulgarities and epithets, it criticized the prevalence of African-Americans in the city’s political and judicial leadership.

“We have declared a JIHAD against this City of [N-word], Courts and Government,” the letter read. It identified the powder — falsely, it turned out — as anthrax and said there would be “more to come.”

Conaway said he is not worried for his safety.

“We’re not going to let people disrupt the work of the courts,” he said.

Shortly after the latest package was discovered in the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse yesterday morning, Administrative Judge Marcella A. Holland struck a similar tone, seeking to assure employees that “at no time” had they been in danger. Any “hint” of danger would have triggered evacuation, Holland wrote.

“This is, as you know, a very busy court with various agencies and entities located in our buildings,” Holland wrote. “If we were to advise you and evacuate with every threat or incident that might occur, this Court would grind to a halt.”

While courthouse employees have often grumbled about being kept in the dark about courthouse hazards, Michael Greenberger, director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security, believes Holland made the right call by keeping employees inside and bringing in the fire department’s hazardous materials unit.

“My basic view is that I think the court responded correctly to this and that there was not, based on this information, a need to evacuate the courthouse,” said Greenberger, whose center has worked with the state Administrative Office of the Courts and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management.

“Still, I mean, look, they get a lot of threats, but they need to respond immediately to anything like this,” he continued. “There’s no two ways about it.”

He said the city post office has a “very, very good” anthrax screening system and that even if spores had been in the envelopes as threatened, due to the immediate response, “the chances of someone getting seriously infected I think is quite minimal.”

U.S. Postal Inspector JerVay C. Rodgers confirmed that the powder in the envelopes “was not a biohazardous material.” Rodgers said her office is “working in cahoots” with the city sheriff’s office and police department, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but offered no more details about the status of their investigation.

A police department spokesman referred calls to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office deferred to Holland’s office, which directed calls to the state judiciary’s spokeswoman.

In an e-mail to her fellow circuit judges Monday, Holland said other courthouses around the state should look out for “a priority mail package, no return address with a delivery receipt request and bulky object inside.” Neither Rodgers, judiciary spokeswoman Angelita Plemmer  nor courthouse officials in other jurisdictions had heard of such letters reaching other Maryland courthouses.

Plemmer said while this round of letters has caused concern, “it’s not an uncommon occurrence for judges to receive threats from individuals who are unhappy with their decision.”

“The judiciary is very aware of security issues presented … and they’re certainly taking every imaginable precaution to ensure the public safety,” Plemmer said.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. and at least four circuit judges, including Administrative Judge Marcella A. Holland, had received letters before Wednesday’s latest discovery.