Attorney General

To say that Edward L. Blanton Jr., the GOP candidate for state attorney general, is a refreshing return to traditional Republicanism in Maryland is the understatement of the year in this turbulent political time. For much of the 1980s -- the Reagan era -- the state's party machinery was dominated by ideologues whose philosophy reflected a curious hostility to regulation of economic forces but a busybody determination to regulate people's personal affairs by dictating their cultural tastes or telling them how many children they must have.

Two University of Maryland, Baltimore County employees resigned or were fired after a state audit and an internal investigation uncovered about $9,000 in questionable expenditures on their corporate credit cards. Their activities have been referred to the criminal division of the attorney general's office for further review, though no charges have been filed. One of the employees purchased $4,400 in gift cards — a violation of university policy — according to the audit, released Tuesday morning.

Edward L. Blanton, the Republican candidate running for attorney general against the Democratic incumbent, J. Joseph Curran Jr., is a competent, respected lawyer and public-spirited citizen who has raised several legitimate questions about Mr. Curran's record in four years in office.Mr. Blanton says the attorney general has not mobilized his office to deal with violent crime. He says Mr. Curran has not pursued environmental lawbreakers. He says Mr. Curran has deferred to his assistants instead of being a leader.

The Maryland attorney general's office argued in a lengthy legal brief, filed in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that a convicted child rapist serving four life terms should not be offered a second chance to take a plea deal years after the fact, despite a U.S. district court ruling demanding just that. "The district court erred," Assistant Attorney General Edward Kelley wrote in the 56-page document. He was referring to a finding that the constitutional rights of John Joseph Merzbacher, an English teacher at the South Baltimore Catholic Community middle school in the 1970s, were violated because his attorneys failed to inform him of a plea deal before his 1995 trial on child rape and sexual abuse charges.

The state attorney general's office will stay at the St. Paul Plaza building in Baltimore, ending a five-month drama over a 280,000-square-foot building owned by a partnership that was forced into bankruptcy during the recession and whose owners' recovery was threatened by the potential loss of their biggest tenant.The state Board of Public Works next week is expected to approve a lease at St. Paul Plaza for nearly 97,000 square feet of space, the biggest office lease anywhere in metropolitan Baltimore since 1992.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is pressing his search for a woman to become U.S. attorney general with at least two candidates coming here for interviews."

"The Senate Judiciary Committee is now in session to hold a hearing on the confirmation of Ms. Yetta Nuther as attorney general of the United States. Welcome, Ms. Nuther, it is nice having you here.""You're welcome, Senator. It's terrifying being here.""Now, I just want you to be sure you understand the rules of this confirmation process. Have you read them?""Yes, Senator, I have.""All right. But for the benefit of those members of the TV viewing audience who are new to confirmation hearings, this is how it works.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening named assistant Maryland attorney general John R. Hargrove Jr. yesterday to a vacancy on the Baltimore District Court.Hargrove, 44, deputy counsel to the Maryland Insurance Administration, served as a city court commissioner from 1976 to 1986. He has been an assistant attorney general since 1990 and represented the transportation and health departments and the state insurance agency.His father, the late John R. Hargrove Sr., was a former city district and circuit judge, and a U.S. District Court judge.

Two Harford County Council members are calling for a state investigator to examine circumstances surrounding the proposed transfer station in Joppa, including the county's move away from the waste to energy facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground. At Tuesday's Harford County Council meeting, Councilmen Dion Guthrie and Joe Woods defended their comments to The Aegis last week that Aberdeen Proving Ground garrison commander Col. Orlando Ortiz said it was the county that pulled out of a waste disposal agreement, not APG. Woods said he went into last week's meeting with Guthrie and Ortiz fully prepared to accuse the Army of not being a good neighbor, only to find out it was the county that was not a good neighbor.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler took a first step Tuesday toward an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a high-stakes case that blocks police across the state from collecting DNA samples when a person is arrested in connection with a violent crime or burglary. Gansler asked Maryland's highest court to reconsider its recent ruling or allow police to continue to take the samples while the state asks the Supreme Court to step in. At issue is whether taking the samples before a conviction violates an individual's constitutional rights.

The Maryland medical society and attorney general's office launched a website Saturday aimed at helping doctors file complaints with the state when insurance companies refuse to cover patient care. "Essentially, our goal was to educate our patients and our physicians that there is an avenue for these complaints," said Gene Ransom III, CEO of MedChi, the state medical society. "We thought, 'Let's make it easier.'" The site, called Insurance Watch, is hosted on the Internet by the medical society.

Ronald Weich, an assistant U.S. attorney general and former aide to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is to be named the next dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law on Wednesday, nine months after his popular predecessor resigned amid a public dispute with the university's president. Given his lengthy experience on Capitol Hill and his lack of time in academia, Weich, 52, is an unconventional choice to lead the law school. But faculty leaders, alumni and students said that's part of the reason they're excited about him after last year's tumult involving former dean Phillip Closius.

Maryland's attorney general said Friday that the nearly $60 million from the national mortgage settlement that the state controls would be used to help people "victimized by the egregious conduct of the banks," in contrast with some states that intend to use their shares to plug budget holes. Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler also said his office is pursuing criminal investigations related to mortgage and foreclosure fraud, though he didn't say whether cases related to the "robo-signing" that prompted the settlement might be filed.

Baltimore City Community College received a $200,000 payment under "potentially questionable" circumstances from a company that was leasing it space, according to a state legislative audit released Wednesday. The matter has been referred to the attorney general's office for further review. The inquiry is the latest trouble for an institution that is battling to keep its accreditation and to build healthier relations between faculty and top administrators. The college says the $200,000 payment was a "contribution" from its landlord at the Maryland BioPark in West Baltimore.

A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a provision in Maryland law regulating who can carry a handgun, effectively loosening the restrictions governing firearm possession on the state's streets. In a 23-page memorandum opinion, made public Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Benson E. Legg said a state requirement forcing those applying for a gun-carry permit to show that they have a "good and substantial reason" to do so "impermissibly infringes the right to keep and bear arms," as guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

As state attorneys general across the country consider whether to settle with big banks over shoddy and illegal foreclosure practices, some Marylanders are urging Douglas F. Gansler not to sign on the dotted line. Their efforts are part of a nationwide effort to press for investigations and lawsuits instead. Gansler joined other Democratic attorneys general in Chicago on Monday to discuss proposed settlement terms, while their Republican counterparts talked details in a conference call.