The outrage from Stephen B. Mercer of the state public defender’s office over the interpretation of a Supreme Court decision that led to convictions being upheld in two rape cases is understandable, given such a clear disconnect between what the Sixth Amendment says and what the Maryland Court of Appeals says it means.

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All the recent sniping over whether to grant taxpayer-financed infrastructure subsidies to help lure Exelon to a proposed development at Harbor Point has obscured a critical point — that ultimately, any new development will help the city as a whole.

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A federal judge’s ruling last week that upheld the ubiquitous and evenhanded practice of criminal background checks before employment signals that some measure of common sense still has a place in the nation’s courts.

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With the awarding this week of $400 million for Purple Line construction, state leaders have made a clear statement about where their transportation priorities lie.

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Disappointingly, and unsurprisingly, the Baltimore mayor’s office and officials with the city’s Board of Finance offered little more than platitudes after a clear-cut ruling by a state body charged with ensuring government transparency that stated the city blatantly violated Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.

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Maryland’s highest court demonstrated a highly disconcerting lack of understanding of mental health issues this week when it barred the state from re-evaluating the psychiatric condition of a killer as part of the process that could lead to his conditional release.

Tagged with: business news criminal procedure Editorial maryland maryland court of appeals The Daily Record

With members of the U.S. Senate reaching a compromise to allow confirmation votes for presidential appointees, thereby avoiding the much-discussed nuclear option of eliminating a 60-vote threshold for some decisions, Tom Perez will become the country’s next secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.

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The case of fourth-generation dairy farmer and ice cream purveyor Bobby Prigel offers an opportunity to more deeply examine what may be an increasingly common dispute in coming years.

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The governor’s decision to put Judge Mary Ellen Barbera in charge of the Court of Appeals is one for the history books, as she will be the first woman to head the state’s Judiciary since its establishment in Colonial times.

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Baltimore City Council member Carl Stokes has a legitimate grievance regarding the gerrymandered enterprise zone that is enabling the developers of the swank Harbor Point project to earn tens of millions of dollars in state tax breaks.

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