Gov. Larry Hogan has the opportunity next year to place two more judges on Maryland’s Court of Appeals. Judge Robert N. McDonald will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Feb. 23, and Chief Judge Joseph M. Getty will ...
Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: Time to reform rules for noncompete agreements
Earlier this year, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a sweeping law that would ban almost all future noncompete agreements in the district starting next year. The new statute is one of the most radical and far-reaching laws of ...
Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: Cracking down on late settlements
All too often, one litigant or another, sometimes both, play a game of chicken before settling their cases by waiting until a jury has been selected and seated. Seating a jury is costly to the court both in terms of ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: An experiment in jury selection
In a criminal case, every state in the United States allows the government and defendants to use peremptory strikes to remove undesirable jurors in their attempts to mold a jury of the defendant’s “peers.” Few judges and lawyers who have ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: CDC eviction moratorium is unconstitutional
On Aug. 3 the Biden administration, through Dr. Rochelle Wallensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a new eviction moratorium that, like the previous one and its three extensions, is unconstitutional. Even the president agrees. ...
Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
We have written many editorials over the years regarding the state of Baltimore’s courthouses. Individual members of the advisory board have discussed the need for a new courthouse and complete rebuilding of the current courthouses with successive governors, mayors, members ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: Time for ‘broadcast ban’ to go
Transparency in government. Politicians and officials regularly say they are favor of it, but there remain some surprising limits on such transparency. Take, for example, Maryland’s “broadcast ban” statute. The “ban” prohibits – subject to criminal penalty — recording or ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: Justice and the language we use
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” writes Brian Stevenson in his book, “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.” And yet the language we use to identify people convicted of crimes—even in The ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: A tribute to Chief Judge Barbera
Mary Ellen Barbera took over at the helm of Maryland’s judiciary eight years ago, in July, 2013. She has steered it well, and deserves the thanks of all Marylanders for having done so. As her tenure as chief judge of ...
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Read More »Editorial Advisory Board: These programs can help stop violent crime
Many of the members of this Editorial Advisory Board work in Baltimore. And, many of us also live in Baltimore. Regardless of where we live or work, we all care about the city and are very distressed with the ongoing ...
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