As the The Daily Record’s city courts reporter, I’m quite familiar with the rigors (and failings) of courthouse security. I’ve had to empty my pockets and remove my belt countless times and, occasionally, I’ve had to run back to the office or to my car to drop off whatever prohibited electronic device I happened to be carrying. So I understand the hassle. But hassle isn’t usually grounds for a successful federal civil rights lawsuit, as a federal judge reminded an aggrieved Prince Frederick man earlier this month.

According to Harold Hodge Jr.’s suit, the trouble began on April 9 when he attempted to enter the Calvert County government building that hosts the district court. A guard manning the metal detector told Hodge to remove his belt and leave his cell phone outside. Hodge protested, citing the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Terry v. Ohio, but eventually complied with both requests. A similar series of events played out on several other occasions at the district court building and at the circuit court nearby before Hodge eventually filed suit on Aug. 30.

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A little over a month ago, I wrote a blog post about an anti-loitering device mounted at the top of a Gallery Place Metro station exit in Washington, D.C. The Mosquito was installed in August, funded by local business owners who hoped the high-pitched beeping sound emitted by the machine would drive away teens who have made the 7th Street corridor their hangout.

But the noise is no more. A representative from the National Youth Rights Association filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, alleging that the use of the device amounts to age discrimination. The city requested that the Mosquito be voluntarily removed pending an investigation into NYRA’s allegations. According to the Washington Post, the device has been taken down and there are no plans for re-installation.

Which brings us back to the original issue: What’s to be done about the increasing property crime and violence in Chinatown? It seemed obvious to me that a beeping box was not the answer to such a serious and growing problem, but what, then, is?

Watch the video below to see what people thought about the beeping when the device was in use:

Baltimore faced a major budget crisis earlier this year, leading to dire threats of spending cuts and revenue-raising measures, some of which were eventually implemented. The mayor threatened to close rec centers and fire houses, ground the police helicopter, and reduce other municipal services. Eventually, there were layoffs, pension cuts for police and fire fighters (which have led to federal litigation), and increased taxes.

But more than pension obligations contributed to the city’s money problems, and one contributing factor — maybe small but maybe larger than we’d like to believe — is plain from my story in today’s paper: simple but expensive mistakes.

To cut to the chase, some city employee forgot to punctually withdraw from a bank account more than a million dollars the city was owed by a Fells Point developer, forcing the city to sue the developer, which eventually resulted in a $400,000 settlement.

That’s right, $600,000 of taxpayer money went instead to developer Larry Silverstein because somebody was asleep at the switch. Silverstein, whose Union Wharf LLC was the party in the case, and his Union Box Co. have successfully repurposed several old buildings in the Fells Point area. He’s not the richest Larry Silverstein I know of, but I doubt he needs a windfall, and Baltimore can’t afford to give money away to anyone, much less a wealthy developer. (Note: I’m not alleging corruption here, merely an expensive mistake.)

Silverstein has not returned messages left yesterday and today seeking comment, and the city law department hasn’t been able to tell me who messed up. I also haven’t heard from several members of the City Council I asked about the approval of today’s settlement.

And while police misconduct, which also costs the city millions, is a different matter, the police also make mistakes that end up costing the city a tidy total. One particular example springs to mind.

While a couple hundred thousand dollars here and there doesn’t close a $121 million budget gap, eventually hundreds of thousands become millions, and millions pile up, too.

Allow me one turn at the “what would that money have bought?” game.

Remember when the city almost had to close several public pools in the heat of August because it couldn’t afford to keep them open and were saved at the 11th hour by a flood of private donations?

Yea, much of that grandstanding with city children as the pawns might have been avoided if the city had simply gone to the bank on time to withdraw the $1 million from Union Wharf’s account.

U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firms list is out, and with the way it took shape, it got me wondering: Is it better to make the list but land in the third tier, or not make it at all?

The much-anticipated rankings break down the top firms by 81 practice areas, but instead of numerically ranking them, U.S. News tiered firms nationally and in metropolitan areas. Potential clients can search for a firm based on location and practice area.

The tiered structure makes the list much more inclusive than a typical top 100 list ever could, and it allows firms that land in the top tier to call themselves just that — tops at what they do, rather than, say, a quarter of the way down the list.

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6:20 p.m. The debate has ended. Moderator Warnken says, “This has been a hard-fought campaign. Obviously these people are not out having coffee with one another each night. A very health exercise.”

6:19 p.m. Lansey: “The primary goal for the entire criminal justice system…is public safety. I can see the horizon just coming because of the economy. The state’s attorney’s office is not the cure-all.”

6:14 p.m. Bernstein identifies his goal to take Baltimore off the list of the nation’s most violent cities. “The high incarceration rate has not made Baltimore less dangerous. It’s time for change, it’s time for a fresh look, a fresh start. It’s time to end the blame game and develop a true crime-fighting partnership.”

6:12 p.m. The closing arguments begin. Jessamy says her opponent has no experience in managing an office, and has only talked about things that have been done many times. “You need a leader, not someone who goes along to get along.”

6:10 p.m. Jessamy says that she has no rebuttal on the topic of the death penalty.

6:09 p.m. Bernstein: “We now have one of the most restrictive death penalty statutes in the country.” He added that the oldest person on death row currently has been there for 27 years.

6:05 p.m. Question 6: When should the state’s attorney pursue the statutory option of seeking the death penalty?

6:03 p.m. Bernstein: “I refuse to engage in the blame game and blame every other agency but my office for the problems in the criminal justice system. We need to be transparent and that we just don’t have. I think we need to keep and publish conviction rates. Engaging in the blame game just doesn’t cut it.”

6:00 p.m. Jessamy: “Police who…lie cause distrust in the community.” She says she tells her prosecutors that they need to have a love of the law and a centered moral compass.

5:57 p.m. Lansey says that people distrust the criminal justice system because they distrust the police. “When I was younger, police used to beat folks up just for fun,” she said. “They’ve witnessed that kind of behavior for so long…” that they distrust officers more than courts.

5:55 p.m. Question 5: Why do people distrust the criminal justice system and how can that be changed?

5:52 p.m. Jessamy responds: “We do train police.”

5:51 p.m. “The majority of police in Baltimore City are good guys and ladies,” said Lansey. “Any policeman who breaks the law is setting example for the general public and needs to penalized, punished, addressed just like any other citizen.” She suggests that perhaps officers could use some psychiatric counseling.

5:49 p.m. Bernstein also said he wants to provide “trainings, seminars and lectures” for cops so they know how to make arrests.

5:44 p.m. Bernstein says that he supports Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s cell phone jamming bill in prisons. “We need to protect our witnesses who are already in jail who are cooperating.”

5:42 p.m. Jessamy: “Again, it’s obvious my opponent has no clue about what is happening within the criminal justice system.”

5:40 p.m. Question 3: What is the best strategy to counter the Stop Snitchin’ mentality?

5:37 p.m. Sheryl Lansey: “I don’t think threatening parents who don’t care will solve this problem. If the gangs get ahold of them, then we’ll have a bigger problem.”

5:35 p.m. “I don’t think anyone in this room can say that juvenile crime is better than it was 15 years ago. In fact, it’s worse,” Bernstein said.
“The state’s attorney’s office’s job is to prosecute these violent offenders.”

5:34 p.m.Jessamy responds: “Line of Defense…One of those lines of defense is truancy.”

5:33 p.m. Bernstein responds: It’s necessary to address juvenile crime as early as possible while at the same time we need to focus on the most violent juvenile offenders.

5:30 p.m. Question 2: How can the criminal justice system prevent repeat juvenile offenders from becoming adult offenders?

5:20 p.m. “We need to stop this revolving door,” said Bernstein. “I am a career lawyer, not a career politician.”

5:06 p.m. Dean Closius gives his opening remarks‬, stating that he wants the law school to be a “neutral place” to discuss ideas and views.

“For the three or four people in the crowd who don’t know Byron Warnken, he is Mr. UB…”

4:55 p.m.Challenger Gregg Bernstein arrived first. “For those of you who don’t know why you’re here, this is estates and trusts,” he said, adding there will be a quiz afterwards.

Earlier this year, my (former) colleague Caryn Tamber wrote entertainingly about her appearance in traffic court. Earlier this week, I, too, stood before a city judge and explained why I should not have to pay a fine. Among other differences between our experiences: she won and I lost. But it’s not whether you win or lose…

Caryn was found not guilty and didn’t have to pay her $60 ticket — the right decision, I thought. I, on the other hand, had my $42 ticket halved but had to pay $22.50 in court costs (forgot about those!), bringing my total bill to $43.50. So not only did I have to spend part of my morning at the Patapsco Avenue courthouse but I had to pay $1.50 more than if I had simply typed and clicked on my laptop from the comfort of home.

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Instead of writing about yet another day of evidentiary motions in the run-up to trial in the murder of former Baltimore City Councilman Ken Harris, allow me to offer a couple of curtain-raiser thoughts.

With jury selection scheduled to start tomorrow and go into next week, this high-profile trial is expected to get underway in earnest on Sept. 13 — one day before voters go to the polls to decide whether State’s Attorney Pat Jessamy deserves another four-year term as Baltimore’s top prosecutor. Although the confluence of events appears to be a coincidence — trial has been postponed four times — the case contains many of the issues Jessamy and principal challenger Gregg Bernstein have argued about this summer and could provide fodder for some 11th-hour posturing.

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Now that the blogger behind Law is 4 Losers and Big Debt Small Law has outed himself, deleted both blogs and is getting quoted by mainstream media for the theory that law school is “really just a big Ponzi scheme” (HT: ATL), what’s next? Here are some law links to keep you on the Internet:

• A California court rejected the “stray remarks” doctrine in an age discrimination case against Google. Might sound far-fetched now, but the Maryland Employment Law Developments blog notes that Cali cases often start nationwide trends.
• Maureen Sweeney at the Maryland Law Faculty Blog has some suggested summer reading for President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. (Photo credit: AP)
• For trial – make a list; check it twice.
• Looking to increase foot traffic in your law library? Just add a ’60s-inspired girl band and watch interest grow.
• Two possible Republican presidential hopefuls are weighing in on Iowa’s debate over whether to unseat three state Supreme Court justices after they approved same-sex marriage. “If a majority of Iowans vote ‘no,’ that will send a signal to the whole country that there is a citizens revolt under way,” according to Newt Gingrich.
• Jodie Fisher — the woman linked to former HP CEO Mark Hurd — wanted to be a lawyer before she got into film.

Let me start by saying I went to The Senator last night simply to see, for free, a classic film I’d never watched all the way through and to check out what I thought would be a neat event. I didn’t go as a reporter; I didn’t bring a notebook; I didn’t interview former Senator owner Tom Kiefaber (who I’ve actually never spoken to, only read about), and didn’t intend on writing anything until after the whole evening unfolded. Rather, I went dressed in shorts and sneakers with some old family friends and got there only a few minutes before the festivities kicked off, lucky to snag one of the few remaining unclaimed seats in the auditorium.

All disclosures and caveats aside, the point is I’m glad I went because how many opportunities do you get to watch Obi-Wan duel Darth Vader for the first time while simultaneously taking part in a memorable episode of Baltimore history?

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The other day, I found in my office mailbox a photocopied Subway coupon sheet addressed to “Daily Record Newspaper Employees” and touting “great offers.” As a longtime Subway customer, I read on, expecting to find a deal that would save me a few bucks. Instead, I met with an insult to my intelligence.

“Daily Record Newspaper Employees,” one coupon advertised, could get a FOOTLONG sub, chips and a drink for $7.

Thanks for the personal invitation, Subway, but spare me the disingenuous implication of exclusivity. As any regular patron of the sandwich chain knows, that’s what everybody pays when they make a $5 FOOTLONG into a combo meal.

I don’t know whether the other coupons offer similarly misleading deals. Maybe somebody at another downtown Baltimore employer who eats six-inch subs and has little tolerance for “one for $1, two for $2″ bargains cares to chime in.