Baltimore County approves transgender discrimination ban
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: February 22, 2012
Tags: Baltimore County, baltimore county council, employment, housing, mcdonald's rosedale, transgender, transgender discrimination, transgender protections
Baltimore County has become the fourth local government in the state to approve a measure protecting transgender people from discrimination.
The County Council approved the measure on Tuesday. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression and sexual orientation when it comes to housing, employment, public accommodations and financing.
Council members did not add [...]
Jury deliberations under way in murder case of former U.Va. lacrosse player
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: February 22, 2012
Tags: charlottesville, chevy chase, circuit court, george huguely, jury deliberations, lacrosse, love murder, murder, trial, university of virginia, uva lacrosse trial, yeardley love
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jurors in the murder trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player began deliberating Wednesday whether he battered his ex-girlfriend to death in a drunken, jealous rage or if his intent to talk with her spiraled out of control, leaving her bleeding and dying in her bedroom.
The jury has been presented [...]
Prop. 8 backers seek review of gay marriage case
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: california, gay marriage, Law, marriage, proposition 8, same-sex, san francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — The backers of California’s same-sex marriage ban petitioned a federal appeals court Tuesday to review a split decision by three of its judges that struck down the voter-approved law known as Proposition 8.
Lawyers for the religious and legal groups that qualified the ban for the 2008 ballot had faced a Tuesday deadline [...]
NYPD monitoring Muslim students sparks outrage
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: ACLU, illegal, monitoring, muslims, nypd, outrage
NEW YORK — New York City’s mayor faced off with the president of Yale University on Monday over efforts by the city’s police department to monitor Muslim student groups.
The Associated Press revealed over the weekend that in recent years, the NYPD has kept close watch on Muslim student associations across the Northeast. The effort that [...]
Top court rules DNA preservation law not retroactive 
BY: Ben Mook
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: conviction, Court of Appeals, dna, Judge Clayton Greene Jr., maryland, Michael D. Washington-Bey, preservation law, rape, retroactive, Wicomico County Circuit Court
The Court of Appeals has ruled that the state law requiring the preservation of DNA evidence after conviction is not retroactive from when the bill was signed into law on Oct. 1, 2001.
Michael D. Washington-Bey had appealed his January 1990 rape conviction in Wicomico County Circuit Court. Washington-Bey claimed a law passed in 2001 requiring [...]
H. Russell Smouse: Exxon spill an ‘unfortunate accident?’ No, not hardly
BY: H. Russell Smouse
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: class action, exxon mobil corp., h. russell smouse, jacksonville, lawsuit, maryland, maryland court of special appeals, oil spill
Once again, the massive 2006 gasoline spill in the Jacksonville area of Baltimore County is making headlines. Recently the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed a jury verdict in the first case to be tried against Exxon Mobil Corp. for unleashing 26,000 gallons of petroleum into the Jacksonville aquifer, the sole source of water for [...]
Lierman named to Red Line Citizens Advisory Council
BY: Wayne Countryman
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: American Constitution Society, Brooke Lierman, Brown Goldstein & Levy, Center for American Progress, maryland transportation authority, Red Line Citizens Advisory Council
Brooke Lierman, an associate at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, of Baltimore, has been appointed to the Red Line Citizens Advisory Council. The CAC is responsible for advising the Maryland Transportation Authority on impacts, opportunities, and community concerns about the Red Line surface rail.
Lierman clerked on Maryland’s federal district court for Chief Judges Benson Legg and [...]
Company suing Apple over iPad name open to talks
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: apple inc., carolyn wu, China, guangdong high court, iPad, ipad trademark, Settlement, shanghai, shenzhen proview technology, taiwan, xie xianghui
SHANGHAI — The lawyer for a Chinese company suing Apple Inc. in China over its use of the iPad trademark indicated Tuesday that his client would be willing to discuss a settlement.
Xie Xianghui, lawyer for Shenzhen Proview Technology, said that since no final decisions have been reached in various legal disputes over the issue, both [...]
Thomas P. Smith, retired judge, joins The McCammon Group
BY: Wayne Countryman
POSTED: February 21, 2012
Tags: Prince George’s Circuit Court, Public Defender’s Office, The McCammon Group, Thomas P. Smith, Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission, Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority
Thomas P. Smith, retired associate judge of Prince George’s Circuit Court, has joined The McCammon Group, a mediation, arbitration, facilitation, training, and consulting firm.
Before his 17 years of judicial service on the bench, Smith worked for the Public Defender’s Office as a panel attorney and as the county attorney.
He was also a chair of the [...]
Benefit corporations spark interest and questions
BY: Ben Mook
POSTED: February 20, 2012
Tags: B Corps, Baltimore, benefit corps., legislation, maryland, Maryland General Corporate Law, taharka brothers ice cream corp., Ways and Means Committee
In some ways, Taharka Brothers Ice Cream Corp. is like any small business with the goal of growing, making a profit and making it big — in its case, maybe even becoming the next Ben & Jerry’s.
While operating on a far smaller scale than the famed Vermont duo, Taharka Brothers shares its social-enterprise spirit in [...]
Dolan Business Books
Lawyers Weekly Books