Criminals

I wonder why you find it necessary to state the school a person attends when reporting crimes.  Your article (Four teens face charges in attack on taxi driver) is a prime example of this practice.  It gives an appearance that the school has some responsibility in the commission of the crime, that the school is the reason these teenagers are criminals. The crime had nothing to do with Oakland Mills High School, was not committed on that property, and certainly was not caused by their attendance at the school.

The only "good and substantial reason" citizens should need in order to obtain a concealed carry permit for their firearm is that we live in a society some of whose members have no respect for the lives of others ("U.S. appeals panel upholds Md. gun law," March 22). As it stands now, the only people who pack guns are the criminals who prey on innocent citizens knowing that the odds of their victims carrying a weapon in Maryland are close to zero. So criminals have nothing to fear.

I am watching with interest the drum beat to criminalize bullying. It's already illegal and it's call harassment.  Like so many things that sound good at first glance, has anyone stopped to consider the chilling effect on freedom of speech? Additionally, and maybe the most scary, is that teachers and administrators will likely be on the front line of deciding whether or not a person is bullying someone else. These are the same people who just suspended and second grader for chewing his pop tart into a politically incorrect form, or maybe just the state of MD?

Roland Walker, a colorful and highly regarded defense attorney who was a fixture in Baltimore courtrooms for six decades, died Saturday of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at his Lutherville home. He was 82. "Roland was always a person's lawyer. He represented people, not organizations or institutions, and he did it brilliantly," said Joseph F. Murphy Jr., former chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. "He did mainly criminal defense work and always had a wonderful way with people, judges and jurors.

An electrician sued a Bel Air payroll company five years ago, alleging that it failed to submit payroll taxes for his employees, so he wonders why it took until last week for the Internal Revenue Service to start an investigation. "They know what's going on," said Ron Biskup, owner of Biskup Electric LLC. The authorities, including the IRS, were notified of the issue. And two other businesses also sued the payroll firm AccuPay Inc. around the same time, for similar reasons. Still, it wasn't until after a veterinarian's office filed a suit on Feb. 27 that the IRS put its criminal division on the case.

The family of a 28-year-old man found fatally stabbed Friday behind a railroad car in Southwest Baltimore said they're struggling to understand why someone would take his life. LaConte Mitchell, who worked security at Spring Grove Hospital Center, had never been arrested and "was always on the straight and narrow," said Tyronea Williams, 37, a close cousin. "He was a good kid — trouble never found him, and he never looked for it," Williams said. Mitchell was found suffering from stab wounds about 6 a.m. Friday at the end of the 600 block of S. Fulton Ave. in a grassy field near an idled set of railroad cars.

The Baltimore City Police are looking for a suspect in a brazen daytime murder witnessed by many, but no one is talking. In keeping with the urban street code where no one speaks for fear of retaliation, De'ontae Smith's murder the day of the Ravens downtown parade remains a mystery ("Police believe stabbing victim was downtown for parade" Feb. 6). The "stop snitching" mantra of urban youths is the code of the street. For fear of reprisals and harm, many urban crimes, such as murder, go unsolved.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman lent his support this week to a pair of bills in Annapolis that would make cyberbullying a crime in Maryland. "The insults and accusations that rush through the cyber-sphere can be beyond anything with which we adults are familiar," said Ulman in written testimony submitted for a March 7 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. A House version of the bill, the subject of Thursday's hearing, is sponsored by Del. Jon Cardin, a Baltimore County Democrat.

State Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden undoubtedly was correct when he said "you can get a gun quicker than you can get an apple or an orange in my community" ("Senate OKs bill to curb firearms," March 1). May I suggest that he (or someone that he appoints) go there, purchase several guns, then enforce the laws that prohibit the illegal sales of guns? The people in his community need protection from the criminals who do not adhere to current laws. Marjorie L. Burkley, Bel Air Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The belly laugh of the past week came from Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden's comment, "You can get a gun quicker than an apple or an orange in my community" ("Senate OKs bill to curb firearms," March 1). He should have added "if you are one of our neighborhood criminals who steal their guns or buy or borrow them from other criminals. " What hyperbole and an outright lie. From my own experience, buying a pistol in Maryland legally is not easy and requires jumping through many hoops. Criminals don't use shotguns or long rifles except in the movies.