More than a handful of Democrats have called for 83-year-old Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire while there is still time to assure that a Democrat will be president when the time comes to appoint his successor, or before ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board settlements

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

In a lawsuit to have the last Confederate monument removed from public grounds in Maryland, Talbot County has filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that “mere offense through observation of a statue” does not create an appropriate injury ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board Talbot Boys statue

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

“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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board language

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

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 ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board

On the Maryland Lawyers Facebook group a few mornings back, a seasoned criminal defense lawyer complained about a practice he says has been ongoing for 40 years. The state’s attorney is allowed to sit at a trial table in a ...

Tagged with: editorial advisory board