Thank you, Erek Barron

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U. S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron recently announced his resignation. He was appointed in October 2021 by then-President Joseph Biden.

Barron served Maryland well and honorably, and he did much to advance the interests of, and protect, Maryland’s citizens. Among his many accomplishments were several high-profile prosecutions of former civil servants resulting in convictions. Barron never did crow about these convictions.

Perhaps his greatest accomplishment, one that saved lives and considerable resources, was his establishment of the Violent and Organized Crime Section within his office. His idea behind this organization was to devote his office’s limited and valuable human resources to create a force that would collaborate with other law enforcement groups, most particularly local law enforcement, in order to sweep clean our local streets of the most dangerous and violent criminals. Repeat offenders were his priority, and his efforts worked.

By targeting the most dangerous and violent actors, Barron made gun prosecutions another priority, and he assigned each prosecutor in his office at least one gun case regardless of their other assignments. Barron recognized and implemented the need to involve the community in his efforts to remove dangerous criminals from our streets and he did this through community-based violence intervention and prevention programs.

He also saw the need to help those who had served time reenter society so they would not find themselves in a position whereby a return to crime was their only alternative.

Barron was quite busy and effective during his tenure as U.S. attorney, and there is much more that he did that we could call out here. However, it should suffice for us to thank him for his service to Maryland and its citizens, and wish him best success in his future endeavors.

Lastly, we express our hope that his replacement has an appetite for making Maryland a safe state and will do what is needed to make that happen.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

James B. Astrachan, Chair

James K. Archibald

Gary E. Bair

Eric Easton

Arthur F. Fergenson

Nancy Forster

Susan Francis

Julie C. Janofsky

Ericka N. King

George Nilson

Catherine Curran O’Malley

Angela W. Russell

Debra G. Schubert

Jeff Sovern

H. Mark Stichel

The Daily Record Editorial Advisory Board is composed of members of the legal profession who serve voluntarily and are independent of The Daily Record. Through their ongoing exchange of views, members of the board attempt to develop consensus on issues of importance to the bench, bar and public. When their minds meet, unsigned opinions will result. When they differ, or if a conflict exists, majority views and the names of members who do not participate will appear. Members of the community are invited to contribute letters to the editor and/or columns about opinions expressed by the Editorial Advisory Board.