Court Order

The Maryland attorney general's office has filed a motion to delay an order from a federal judge finding that the state's handgun permitting process is unconstitutional, pending an appeal. Calling the ruling an "unmapped" legal issue, attorneys for the state argue in a motion filed late Wednesday that clarification from the appellate courts "would be prudent in light of the potentially significant adverse consequences for public safety. " The attorneys wrote that granting a motion to stay the court order would also allow the Maryland General Assembly to consider whether to enact legislation that might address the court's concerns while upholding the intent of the state's restrictions.

The Maryland attorney general's office has filed a motion to delay an order from a federal judge finding that the state's handgun permitting process is unconstitutional, pending an appeal. Calling the ruling an "unmapped" legal issue, attorneys for the state argue in a motion filed late Wednesday that clarification from the appellate courts "would be prudent in light of the potentially significant adverse consequences for public safety. " The attorneys wrote that granting a motion to stay the court order would also allow the Maryland General Assembly to consider whether to enact legislation that might address the court's concerns while upholding the intent of the state's restrictions.

A good stockbroker is worth keeping. So imagine being separated from your favorite by a court order. It actually happened, says Mutual Fund Market News, a Boston newsletter.When a California broker left Merrill Lynch to join another firm, some of his top clients -- many of them friends and relatives -- decided to take their business with him.Not so fast, said Merrill Lynch.When Merrill hired the broker, he signed an agreement stating that, should he switch firms, he would not contact his Merrill Lynch clients for at least a year after his departure.

A 44-year-old Edgewater man was arrested early Wednesday after swinging a sword at law enforcement officers during an eight-hour standoff that began when a sheriff's deputy attempted to serve a court order, authorities said. Michael R. Beach, who according to Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman was "well-known" to his deputies and police, was being served with a protective order filed by his mother, Martha Beach, who wanted to have her son removed from her home, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said . It was the second time in three years that she had filed a protective order against her son, according to electronic court records.

Pines, dogwoods and wild cherry trees came down by the dozens in Mary L. Bowman's back yard yesterday -- the casualties of a nasty, seven-year neighborhood feud over a blocked view.With chain saws and tree chippers breaking the quiet of her exclusive Green Spring Valley community, Bowman began complying with a court order to remove 200 trees ruled to be in violation of a neighborhood covenant."I never thought I'd ever see the day to watch the stripping of my back yard," Bowman said as a worker dragged off a white dogwood, still in bloom.

Three months after a judge ordered the state to speed up delivery of food stamps and medical benefits to low-income Maryland residents, the problem has worsened, court filings show. At the end of January, the state's Department of Human Resources was operating at an 81 percent compliance rate processing those requests, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous month, according to papers filed in Baltimore Circuit Court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the decline shows that the state - which faces a year-end deadline to improve services - continues to struggle.

A 44-year-old Edgewater man was arrested early Wednesday after swinging a sword at law enforcement officers during an eight-hour standoff that began when a sheriff's deputy attempted to serve a court order, authorities said. Michael R. Beach, who according to Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman was "well-known" to his deputies and police, was being served with a protective order filed by his mother, Martha Beach, who wanted to have her son removed from her home, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said . It was the second time in three years that she had filed a protective order against her son, according to electronic court records.

A Virginia judge has dismissed a petition by four news organizations to unseal a court order in the trial of the University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing fellow student and Cockeysville native Yeardley Love. The court order sealed the records of searches of apartments and student George Huguely, who is being tried for Love's murder. The order itself was sealed, so the reason for sealing those search results is unknown. The request, filed by the Charlottesville Daily Progress, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Washington Post and the Associated Press, sought to unseal the court's order but Judge Cheryl Higgins denied it Wednesday on procedural grounds, according to news reports.

Attorneys for a man once charged in the killing of an Arnold nightclub owner -- charges that later were dropped -- are seeking a court order to protect the evidence against him because they say he may be charged with the slaying again.Edward Wendell McLeod, 43, of the 1800 block of Division St. in Baltimore was charged Nov. 10 with the murder of Joanne Shuey Valentine of the 500 block of Broadwater Road.Mrs. Valentine, a 47-year-old mother of two, was shot about 4 a.m. Sept. 26 by someone who followed her into the driveway of her home, police said.

Amid claims of intensifying fire dangers at the long burning tree stump dump in Granite, Baltimore County officials have again petitioned the courts to force dump owner James Jett to clear a buffer area and stop alleged interference with county workers.County Attorney H. Emslie Parks revealed at last night's County Council meeting that the county is seeking a new court hearing, based on allegations that Jett has failed to clear an area of the burning dump as ordered by the court in August and has prevented environmental inspectors from entering the property.

A $590,000 jury award to a mother who said her child was harmed by lead paint in the family's rented Baltimore home was overturned this week by the state's second-highest court. The Court of Special Appeals ordered a new trial to determine whether Tyaih Dodd suffered lead paint poisoning in the house in the 2200 block of E. Lanvale St. It was among about 700 houses controlled by companies connected to Stanley Rochkind that fell under a 2001 consent order with the Maryland Department of the Environment to reduce or eliminate lead paint hazards.

A Virginia judge has dismissed a petition by four news organizations to unseal a court order in the trial of the University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing fellow student and Cockeysville native Yeardley Love. The court order sealed the records of searches of apartments and student George Huguely, who is being tried for Love's murder. The order itself was sealed, so the reason for sealing those search results is unknown. The request, filed by the Charlottesville Daily Progress, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Washington Post and the Associated Press, sought to unseal the court's order but Judge Cheryl Higgins denied it Wednesday on procedural grounds, according to news reports.

Three months after a judge ordered the state to speed up delivery of food stamps and medical benefits to low-income Maryland residents, the problem has worsened, court filings show. At the end of January, the state's Department of Human Resources was operating at an 81 percent compliance rate processing those requests, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous month, according to papers filed in Baltimore Circuit Court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the decline shows that the state - which faces a year-end deadline to improve services - continues to struggle.

Monday's announcement that federal oversight of Baltimore City's special education programs will be ending within two years was rightly hailed by civic and educational leaders as a major milestone. It is a testament to how far the city school system has come recently and a reminder of how dysfunctional it was for most of the 26 years the lawsuit has been in effect. But as good news as the announcement was, one has to ask: Why did it take the city schools so long to persuade the plaintiffs in this case that it was finally prepared to do the things that it should have been doing all along?

The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration has postponed a policy change that, starting Jan. 1, would have required transgender residents to obtain a court order or amended birth certificate to change the gender on their driver's license or identification card. The delay drew praise Wednesday from gay rights advocates who mobilized to protest altering the policy that's been in effect since 2000 and allows applicants to change their designation if they provide a physician or psychologist's report confirming they are undergoing a sex change.

A Baltimore man's 30-year combined federal sentence, once held up as a major law enforcement success, was overturned Friday, along with two of his three convictions when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit Court ruled that Collin Hawkins deserved another day in court. Hawkins, 27, was convicted last year on three charges that should not have been tried together, the judges said. Consequently, they remanded his carjacking and gun possession convictions to Baltimore U.S. District Court for a new trial.

Within six months all the so-called "junior" billboards advertising in Baltimore's residential neighborhoods will have to be removed as a result of a Circuit Court order signed yesterday by Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan.Nonetheless, community leaders who have been pressuring the city government to take down the billboards, which often feature tobacco and liquor advertising in the city's poorer neighborhoods, said yesterday that they view that order as a setback."The billboards are illegal. When I break the law, I have to go to jail or pay a fine.

ARKANSAS GOV. Bill Clinton told the American Bar Assn. that George Bush is no Dwight Eisenhower.He said that Bush had not acted as forthrightly to uphold a federal court order in Wichita regarding anti-abortion demonstrators as Ike had acted in 1957 to uphold a federal court order regarding school desegregation.That's not a very fair charge, since, in fact, the Bush administration is grudgingly enforcing a court order in Wichita it doesn't believe in, just as Ike did at Little Rock.The implication that the Battle of Little Rock was one of Eisenhower's famous victories or shining moments is misleading.

The state's highest court ruled Wednesday in favor of several Anne Arundel County developers and property owners who sued the county to recover millions of dollars in impact fees paid from 1988 to 1996. Development impact fees, which the county requires builders to pay to offset costs to public infrastructure, must be refunded if the county does not use the money within six years for the capital improvement projects for which they were collected. That suit originally was filed in February 2001.