Federal Judge

A federal judge said Wednesday that he intends to approve a carefully constructed settlement agreement in L.J. v. Massinga, a decades-old case over the treatment of Baltimore foster children, but he delayed his decision to consider the state's new argument that the long-standing court oversight should end altogether. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz called the exit strategy, crafted over eight months by Department of Human Resources officials, state attorneys and lawyers representing the city's more than 5,000 foster children, "not only fair but commendable."

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at overturning 15 years of Howard County land-use decisions, claiming that the issue is one for state courts, not federal. The 124-page suit filed in February by a group of development critics charged that county officials illegally made land-use decisions by County Council resolution, denying citizens their constitutional right to petition them to referendum, which is allowed only for council bills. The principal plaintiffs - Susan B. Gray, Frank Martin and Paul F. Kendall - said the county has violated the charter for years.

Maryland's U.S. District Court judges already handle an average of 250 cases apiece, and the caseload is about to get heavier, with the U.S. Senate expected soon to confirm Andre Davis to a new position on the region's federal appeals court. With one judge's seat already vacant, that would leave eight full-time judges out of 10 possible positions on one of the country's busiest courts. The shortage could hold up case processing and put a greater strain on already-strapped judges, who oversee complicated cases involving everything from antitrust issues to witness murders and gang activity.

WASHINGTON - - President Barack Obama decided Tuesday to send to the Supreme Court a veteran federal judge from New York whose humble upbringing and moderate-to-liberal record on the bench is not likely to trigger a "culture wars" battle in the Senate. Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 54, who would be the first Hispanic justice on the high court, has not ruled squarely on controversies such as abortion or gay rights, and legal experts say her narrowly written opinions resemble those of the justice she would replace, David Souter.

A two-judge panel meeting for the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected yesterday a bid by defense lawyers to overturn the convictions of two men in a murder-for-hire case that involved one of Baltimore's biggest drug dealers and which symbolized troubles with city courts. An attorney for one of the suspects, Solothol "Itchy Man" Thomas, a West Baltimore hit man who had avoided convictions in several cases because of police errors and reluctant witnesses, said he would most likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A"sweet deal" is too simplistic a description of the contract given to a firm headed by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to monitor an out-of-court settlement negotiated by federal prosecutors in New Jersey. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie recommended his former boss' firm, the Ashcroft Group, for the contract last fall without notifying anyone - including his superiors in Washington - or soliciting any public bids. It was a sweet deal, but it also qualifies as a big dose of favoritism.

In an effort to avoid prison time, the wife of former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell Sr. is adopting a time-honored legal strategy with a new twist. Blame your lawyer. Or in this case, blame your three former attorneys. Mary Patricia Bromwell, who has been represented by four separate lawyers, argued in court papers that the federal judge at her sentencing today should not penalize her for waiting more than 1 1/2 years after her indictment to plead guilty. She pleaded in July to accepting a salary for a no-show job at a contractor controlled by Baltimore-based Poole and Kent construction company in return for her husband's intervention in contract talks.

The Kansas-based anti-gay church that was smacked with a $10.9 million jury award against its members has asked a federal judge in Baltimore to review the judgment. The father of a Marine killed in Iraq successfully sued Westboro Baptist Church and three of its leaders for invading his family's privacy when church members waved anti-gay signs at his son's funeral in Westminster. The verdict late last month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore was the first against Westboro Baptist Church, a small but vocal Christian group based in Topeka that has protested military funerals with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."

A federal judge gave Maryland the go-ahead yesterday to begin construction of a long-debated highway in the Washington suburbs, flatly rejecting environmentalists' challenges to the $2.4 billion project. Judge Alexander Williams Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt denied the plaintiffs' request for an injunction against the Intercounty Connector, a six-lane, 18.8-mile toll road connecting the Interstate 95 corridor with Interstate 270 in Montgomery County. The judge's decision, unless overturned in what would be a long-shot appeal, removes the final obstacle to construction of the Laurel-to-Gaithersburg highway, first included in Washington-area transportation plans in 1953 as part of an Outer Beltway around Washington.

A crack cocaine dealer from Baltimore was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis also ordered Troy Donte Garner, 29, to five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine According to his guilty plea, federal agents saw Garner drive to Eastpoint Mall in Baltimore. When Garner left the mall and approached his car, agents detained him and seized a loaded Sig Sauer handgun, 44 1/2 grams of cocaine base and a digital scale from his car.