A coalition of people including lawmakers and religious leaders recently filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Maryland governor’s stay at home order that has been in effect for several weeks. The order required the shuttering of all non-essential businesses and banned gatherings of more than 10 people under…
This past Friday planes equipped with high tech surveillance cameras began flying over Baltimore City as part of an experimental effort to solve violent crimes. The planes will be in the air for up to 6 months, and the footage will be monitored on the ground by officers from the…
Police in a wealthy suburb outside of Philadelphia recently arrested a 24-year old Maryland woman for allegedly attempting to deliver 100 pounds of marijuana to buyers waiting in a parking garage. The marijuana was described by police as high grade, and apparently worth as much as $200,000 on the street. …
Over the weekend the governor signed an order that should expedite the release of hundreds of Maryland prisoners. There are some caveats to the order, and it only applies to prisoners serving sentences in the state-run Division of Corrections. The governor had received multiple formal requests to consider measures to…
Overall crime appears to be on the downturn during the coronavirus pandemic, but drug crimes may be falling at especially high levels. The city of Chicago has more yearly crime than many states in America, but over the past month drug arrests have plummeted by 42%. While Baltimore and D.C.…
It has been a little over one month since the governor declared a state of emergency in Maryland due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and multiple executive orders have followed. The most recent order reaffirmed the governor’s decision to close non-essential businesses such as fitness centers, bars, theaters, malls, tanning…
Last week the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals issued an order extending the closure of all state courts to the public through May 1, 2020. Anyone who had a criminal trial set in the Month of April will have their case automatically reset to a later date, likely…
Last week the Baltimore City State’s Attorney made headlines for publicly directing her prosecutors to dismiss numerous non-violent cases. The cases that will be dismissed involve defendants who are arrested on new charges in Baltimore City during these extremely unique times. The charges specifically mentioned by the State’s Attorney include…
On Friday the Chief Judge of Maryland’s highest court signed an administrative order closing all state courthouses to the public for at least the next three weeks. The announcement may have initially been a surprise, but as the impact of the coronavirus continued to unfold it was clear the judiciary…
As the Maryland criminal code continues to evolve with the times there is an increasing need to address the issue of expungement. Maryland has a fair and user-friendly expungement process, and in most cases, there is no fee to apply. Lawmakers already did away with the $30 application fee for…