Sign In
Free Newsletter
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY v. ANTHONY BROOKE
Civil rights — Free speech — Disciplinary hearing Prince George’s County appeals an order of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County that stopped disciplinary proceedings against Corporal Anthony Brooke on the basis that the charges against him violated his rights under the First Amendment. Read the opinion
VALERIE ROVIN v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Civil rights — Summary judgment — Probable cause After she was acquitted on criminal charges of juror intimidation and second-degree assault, Valerie Rovin, Appellant, sued the State of Maryland, Appellee, and certain state officials in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County. Read the opinion
OMWALEE ALLEYNE v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Immigration law — Collateral consequences — Coram nobis relief One question these appeals raise is whether a non-citizen defendant’s honest but mistaken belief that he is a United States citizen, attributable to no one but himself, is a factual error that renders his guilty plea neither knowing nor voluntary, and therefore constitutionally deficient. Read the […]
ESTATE OF LEONARD SHAND v. CITY OF HYATTSVILLE, MARYLAND, et al.
Civil rights — Excessive use of force — Summary judgment In this case involving the alleged excessive use of police force, the Estate of Leonard Shand (“Estate”) appeals the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County’s grant of summary judgment in favor of appellees City of Hyattsville and two of its police officers, Lieutenant Zachary Nemser […]
SACHINDER N. GUPTA v. MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE
Civil rights — Free speech — Sovereign immunity Sachinder N. Gupta (“Gupta”), appellant, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County against Maryland Environmental Service (“MES”), appellee, alleging a violation of his right to exercise free speech under Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Count I), and defamation (Count II). MES […]
City Council passes bill banning ‘gag orders,’ sends it to mayor
The Baltimore City Council unanimously passed the third reading of a bill Monday that would prohibit non-disparagement agreements, also referred to as “gag orders,” in police brutality and misconduct cases. The bill aims to prohibit settlements with the city that prevent claimants from discussing their experiences with police misconduct in public and with the press.
EL SOUNDANI ELWAHHABI v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Civil litigation — Prisoner’s motion to change name — Denial without explanation Shawnte Anne Levy, the appellant, is incarcerated at the North Branch Correctional Institution. She would like the name on her prison identification badge to match her legal name. Pursuant to Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services policy, because her legal name is […]
DONTAE SPIVEY v. JOHN WOLFE, WARDEN
Maryland Public Information Act — Request for recordings — Non-existence of recordings In December 2013, Dontae Spivey, appellant, an inmate at the Jessup Correctional Institution (“JCI”), requested that John Wolfe, appellee, the warden of JCI, provide recordings of phone calls he made to his attorney – Rachel Kamins – on certain dates because he believed […]
GUY D. HARRIS v. KATHLEEN S. GREEN, WARDEN
Criminal procedure — Writ of habeas corpus — Legally permissible Guy Harris, appellant, appeals the denial, by the Circuit Court for Carroll County, of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In response, the State filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as not permitted by law. Read the opinion here
WILLIE L. BARTON v. RICKY FOXWELL, WARDEN
Criminal procedure — Writ of habeas corpus — Diminution credits In 1975, Willie L. Barton, appellant, was convicted of first-degree murder following a jury trial in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.1 In 2015, Barton filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, claiming that the Division of Correction […]
DAVID BOLDING v. JOSHUA A. KOZAY, ET AL
Torts — False arrest and deprivation of liberty — Traffic stop After a police officer signaled a motorist to stop, he continued driving for more than 60 seconds, passing numerous places where he could safely stop. The motorist’s conduct led the officer to suspect that he might be attempting to conceal a weapon. When the […]
LARIN GRIFFIN v. FRANK BISHOP, WARDEN
Civil litigation — Writ of habeas corpus — Deprivation of good-conduct credits On September 29, 2015, Larin Griffin, appellant, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court for Allegany County. Appellant alleged that the Division of Corrections (“the Division”), an agency within the Maryland State Department of Public Safety and […]
