Sign In
Free Newsletter
Happy Birthday, ALI
The American Law Institute celebrated its 100th birthday at its recently concluded annual meeting. The ALI, through its Restatements, Principles projects, and other works, such as the Model Penal Code, has had a significant and salutary impact on American law. We congratulate the ALI on its first century and look forward to the next. William […]
On broadcasting criminal trials
On April 28, George W. Liebmann, president of the Library Company of the Baltimore Bar wrote a President’s Letter urging members of the bench and bar to write the Supreme Court of Maryland addressing the issue of broadcasting criminal trials in Maryland. We support Liebmann’s call for a vigorous response at the appropriate time to […]
Openness and bond hearings
Injustice happens in empty courtrooms. If any proof of the validity of this maxim were needed, one need only read the 21-page report “Inside Prince George’s County Bond Hearings” just released by Howard University’s Movement Lawyering Clinic. After observing hundreds of bond hearings over two years, participants witnessed: “[J]udges dismissing defendants’ needs for medical attention [&[...]
Guaranteeing the right to abortion in Maryland
The Maryland General Assembly Thursday gave final legislative approval to the creation of a referendum asking voters whether to codify a right to abortion into the state constitution. This issue now heads to voters in the 2024 election. We support both the referendum initiative and also the amendment of the state constitution for this purpose. […]
Easing Maryland’s horrid ER wait times
Baltimore is one of the country’s preeminent health care cities. Yet studies have shown that hospitals here as well as all Maryland hospitals have the longest wait times in their emergency departments for seven years running. The legislature has put forth HB274/SB387 to find out why. SB387 proposes creating a task force to study the […]
Maryland lawmakers should vote yes on ‘The YES Act’
The Youth Equity and Safety Act, SB93/HB96, seeks to eliminate the practice of automatically charging minors as adults in Maryland. The proposed bipartisan bill would end the practice by repealing statutory provisions that prevent cases from beginning in the juvenile court for children alleged to have committed certain offenses. Under current law, children as young […]
This Maryland legislation would protect people and pets
Last week The Baltimore Sun and WMAR 2 News reported an unprecedented number of animals being surrendered to local animal shelters because of the rapid rise in evictions. A record-setting 828 pets arrived at the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter in January alone. With approximately 72% of Maryland renters having companion animals and many being challenged with housing […]
There’s a downside to our reliance on plea bargains
The American Bar Association’s 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force Report communicates there are many benefits of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system, including the preservation of resources and a mechanism to induce defendants to cooperate and to accept responsibility for their actions. As well, plea bargains can be used to avoid some of the […]
Maryland tax sale process must change to stop harming Black residents
We encourage Maryland legislators to take a close look at the tax sale process.
Restitution orders should include attorney’s fees
Attorney’s fees often finish last, although we have a hard time understanding why. Defendants don’t want to agree to pay them, and courts don’t like to award them. When courts do award fees, they are often pared back. Recently, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled that a person convicted of a crime and ordered to […]
As bar counsel, Lydia Lawless served the state superbly
On March 17, Lydia E. Lawless will step down as Maryland Bar Counsel after having served in that post since 2017. We wish Lawless much success in whatever her next professional endeavor may be. We have no doubt that any future undertaking will be highly successful, given her stellar career achievements to date. The current […]
Baltimore City needs to support the state’s attorney’s office
Some in the know say that the outgoing Baltimore state’s attorney provided to the incoming, newly elected state’s attorney very little in the way of transition, particularly an office adequately staffed with a sufficient number of seasoned prosecutors who can effectively prosecute the city’s large criminal docket and engage in efforts to prevent violent crime. […]
