Aclu

For nearly as long as there has been motorized travel, there have been shutterbugs taking pictures of trains, planes, automobiles and the like. And surely no form of transportation is more romanticized — or attracts a more dedicated fan base — than rail travel. So how is it that twice this year tourists taking pictures of light rail have been detained and hassled by Maryland Transit Administration police for the purported crime of photography? Worse yet, in both instances the victims were repeatedly told that it was illegal to take pictures of light rail trains while standing on public property.

Two photographers who were detained by Maryland Transit Administration police this year and told they were forbidden to take pictures of MTA facilities expressed relief Wednesday after the head of the agency flatly repudiated the officers' actions. Administrator Ralign T. Wells disavowed police efforts to restrict photography on or around MTA property and said he would take action to head off a threatened lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland before it can be filed.

Christopher Fussell likes to take pictures of trains and buses. The 29-year-old Oregonian has shot photos and video of transit systems all over the United States. It wasn't until he came to Baltimore, he said Tuesday, that he was detained for committing photography. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland put the Maryland Transit Administration on notice Tuesday that it intends to file suit over the conduct of transit police in ordering Fussell and another photographer to stop taking pictures.

Two advocacy groups are criticizing the state school board for failing to act more quickly to address high suspension rates and inequities in the way students are disciplined from one district to another. In a letter to the school board, the Open Society Institute-Baltimore and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland expressed "extreme concern about the continuing high, and disproportionate, levels of suspensions of students in Maryland public schools and the lack of significant progress in acting upon this situation.

Two homeless people banned from the Mall in Columbia for a year in early February may now return after a meeting with mall and county officials sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. Mall officials did not do anything wrong, according to Greg Harris, a spokesman for mall manager Katie Essing, but he confirmed that Essing generally apologized to Stephan Rabai and Patricia R. "Anne" Francis for any stigma they suffered due to the banning. The shopping center's management also agreed to several policy changes.

The American Civil Liberties Union's Maryland chapter has asked managers of The Mall in Columbia to reverse one-year banning orders issued to two middle-aged homeless people who say they were ejected from the center last month for no apparent reason. Mall manager Katie Essing strongly denied the charge in a prepared statement that said the two people were banned for repeatedly violating mall rules, but she offered to meet with the two and discuss it. The letter, sent to both Essing and to Howard County police Chief William J. McMahon, said Patricia R. "Anne" Francis and Stephan Rabai were illegally banned from mall property in early February's bitter cold despite being patrons of food stores there and causing no disturbances.

In the past two days, readers of The Sun saw diametrically opposed views on education spending that show that, as a society, we still do not agree about the value of early education programs. Bebe Verdery of the ACLU decries cost cutting adjustments to the Thornton formula which, among other things, has funded the State's successful expansion of pre-K ("Proposed education cuts break a promise to Maryland's children," Feb. 27). David G. O'Neill writes that Head Start is a waste of money (Readers respond, Feb. 28)

The American Civil Liberties Union presented a financial plan Wednesday to fund $2.8 billion in upgrades of dilapidated Baltimore school buildings that suggests imposing local taxes, partnering with an investor and increasing government funding. The funding proposal follows an ACLU report released in June that found that 70 percent of city schools were in urgent need of upgrades. For years, Baltimore students have attended schools with nonfunctioning heating and air conditioning, broken windows and limited electrical systems, the June report said.

Based on Dan Rodricks' column ( "Farley Grant still hoping governor's heart can be turned," Nov. 23), I think The Sun should publish a front page editorial demanding that Gov. Martin O'Malley publicly state his reasons for not paroling or pardoning Mark Farley Grant, a man who apparently has spent 27 years of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. I also think other Sun columnists should join in this demand, as well as the ACLU and the NAACP. Since Governor O'Malley apparently has the authority to grant or deny Mr. Grant his freedom, he also has the responsibility to publicly state why he has not used that authority to free Mr. Grant.

Two watchdog groups — one promoting civil liberties, the other civil rights — want to inspect Maryland State Police disciplinary records to make sure troopers are complying with a consent decree to investigate claims of racial profiling. And Teleta Dashiell wants to know how a state trooper was punished for leaving a racially offensive message on her voice mail — something beyond the official response: "appropriate disciplinary action was taken … and documented in his personnel file.