District Judge

Howard County District Judge R. Russell Sadler plans to retire in October, a move that may stir again the fractious issue of bringing more diversity to the Howard County bench.In an interview yesterday, Sadler said that when he turns 70 -- the mandatory retirement age under state law -- he will step down from the post he has held since 1980.There has never been a black district judge in Howard, and three of the four current judges are men.As a result, some Howard County political observers predict that Gov. Parris N. Glendening's vow to open doors for women and minorities on the state's traditionally male-dominated benches will play a role in his choice of Sadler's successor.

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge here ruled yesterday that America will be at war if it attacks Iraq and said that the courts might in the future support congressional veto power over that war if Congress is willing to challenge President Bush's claim that he can act alone.A different federal judge here, however, ruled almost simultaneously that the courts have no role to play in any dispute between Congress and the White House over U.S. military options in the Persian Gulf.The two conflicting rulings left the developing constitutional fight over possible combat in the gulf in a temporary state of legal limbo, with the ultimate outcome depending upon future action -- or inaction -- by two and probably all three branches of the federal government.

Lapp's Fresh Meats, one of several Amish-run stalls inside the Joppa Market Place at Joppatowne Plaza Shopping Center, must close within ten days, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The meat vendor violates an agreement between Redner's, a Pennsylvania grocery chain with a store in the shopping center, and the plaza's owner, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett said. Redner's sued Cordish more than two years ago, saying that the Amish stalls break a contract between the companies.

GREENBELT - Josephine Gray, who is accused in the deaths of three men and feared by some for her practice of voodoo, was ordered held without bond yesterday by a federal judge after prosecutors said that she has a history of threatening witnesses. Gray, 55, of Upper Marlboro is charged with mail and wire fraud in collecting life insurance benefits on policies for two husbands and a boyfriend after she was "involved in" their killings, prosecutors said. "We have very strong and compelling evidence that Ms. Gray was involved in all three murders and as a result, she profited," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Wilkinson told U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow.

Terrence G. Johnson, paroled amid controversy in 1995 after serving nearly 17 years in the slayings of two Prince George's County police officers, shot himself to death yesterday moments after robbing an Aberdeen bank with his brother, police said.The shooting, which came as police closed in near the NationsBank branch at Beards Hill Plaza, shocked those who knew Johnson as a model former prisoner. And it brought tears at the University of the District of Columbia law school, where, until recently, he had been a second-year student.

One thing that happened in Vegas last week certainly won't stay in Vegas: The lobbyists Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone were married there before about 100 well-wishers, who included some of Maryland's top government officials - including the wedding officiant, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Malone, a one-time top aide to Gov. Martin O'Malley, and Jones, perennially among the state's highest-earning lobbyists, joined professional forces five years ago and on Tuesday were married in Las Vegas by Rawlings-Blake.

The 19-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing Dennis Lane allegedly told investigators that his girlfriend had instructed him to kill her father and his fiancee, specifying the number of times each was to be stabbed in the throat - 10 for him and 15 for her. Jason Anthony Bulmer charging documents In a conversation at school hours before the Ellicott City blogger and businessman was killed, Jason Anthony Bulmer said, 14-year-old Morgan...

A federal appeals court has upheld Maryland's handgun permitting law, reversing a lower court decision by concluding that the state can constitutionally require an applicant to show “good and substantial reason” that he or she needs a concealed-carry license. Fourth Circuit Judge Robert King, writing for the three-judge panel, said the state had shown that the requirement “is reasonably adapted” to its “significant interests in protecting public safety and preventing crime.” Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler cheered the ruling Thursday, saying the state is “a safer place today because of its handgun conceal-and-carry permit laws.” “The idea is to make sure guns are in the hands of responsible people, and not just anybody who wants to tote a gun in public,” Gansler said.

A Naval Academy professor will spend two weekends in jail and be on probation, after he admitted breaking into the Gambrills home of his former girlfriend. Lt. Cmdr. Charles D. Spera, 31, of Bowie, was granted probation before judgment this week by Annapolis District Court Judge Megan B. Johnson, according to court records. She ordered Spera to serve four days in the Anne Arundel County jail and placed him on 18 months probation, after he pleaded guilty to burglary, the records say. The sentence, which is not a conviction, means his record can eventually be cleared if he meets all conditions.

Among the questions on tomorrow's ballot will be one asking whether legislators or judges ought to be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.For Baltimore County District Court Judge Lawrence Daniels, the question is not theoretical. He's already on active duty, serving in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf standoff.Daniels, 43, a 17 1/2 -year Army veteran from Glenarm, was called to active duty Sept. 11. He flew out, his wife says, "combat ready.""He went out there fully armed," said Beverly Daniels, 34. "And chemical warfare ready."