Maryland Court

Maryland's highest court has ruled that the state police must give the NAACP access to internal affairs files on racial profiling complaints. The civil rights group had requested the documents under the Maryland Public Information Act but the police agency denied the request, saying the records were protected personnel files. The Maryland Court of Appeals rejected that argument, agreeing with a Baltimore County court that the information could be shared if identifying information is redacted.

As expected, Maryland vigorously defended its right to move to the Big Ten without paying a $52 million exit fee to the Atlantic Coast Conference in two legal actions filed Friday. Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler filed a complaint in Prince George's County circuit court alleging the ACC violated state antitrust laws, breached contractual obligations and interfered with the the economic growth of the school. The suit seeks an injunction against paying the fee and declaratory judgment that it is unlawful.

Having successfully pushed for historic changes in Maryland laws regarding expanded casino gambling, in-state college tuition rates for some undocumented-immigrant students, and the right of gay people to marry, Gov. Martin O'Malley is now in a position to address one of the last great pieces of unfinished business of his time in Annapolis: abolishing the state's death penalty. Mr. O'Malley, who opposes capital punishment on religious and practical grounds, reportedly is considering whether to ask the legislature to take up the matter again when it meets in January.

Noel Tshiani wasn't at his wedding — he listened by phone in another country to the ceremony in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to court records — but he's just as married as if he'd stood at his bride's side. And soon, he'll be just as divorced and responsible for alimony and child support, a Maryland court has ruled. A World Bank employee, Tshiani was working in another African country when he and Marie-Louise Tshiani married in a 1993 ceremony. He answered questions and listened to the ceremony by telephone, while his cousin stood in his place for the ceremony, court records say. The exchange among families included money, clothes and a goat, and within days, the bride flew to join her husband, according to court records.

Hazel Sanders depends on her Rottweiler, Jurnee, to get her out walking, which she needs for a disabling knee condition, and to help her up if she falls. Two doctors have written letters saying the dog is an important part of her treatment, and she considers it as much a help as a seeing-eye dog is for a blind person. "It's not a pet; she's my legs," said Sanders, who is 70 and lives in Laurel. "I depend on the dog. ... She keeps me going. " Now, though, the 69-pound dog could stand between Sanders and a new home.

The Exxon Mobil Corp. asked Maryland's highest court Monday to erase most of the more than $1.5 billion awarded in two lawsuits over a large gasoline spill that Jacksonville residents claimed polluted their well water, left them fearful of getting cancer and made their property worthless. The oil giant's attorneys asked that new trials be held only on property value issues. That would leave the corporation and homeowners to argue over which homeowners to compensate for losses in property value.

A lawsuit challenging both the Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that pit bulls are "inherently dangerous" and a Baltimore landlord's decision to ban the animals from its property to avoid liabilities created under the ruling was recently amended to include the state's governor, attorney general and chief appeals judge as defendants. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and Chief Judge Robert M. Bell are all being sued personally but within their official capacities, according to the amended complaint, which was filed Sunday night.

The Maryland District Court said Thursday that its chief judge has dismissed 3,168 debt-collection cases against state residents and ordered that any liens associated with those cases be released. The move, involving Worldwide Asset Purchasing cases, is a result of a settlement in a federal class-action suit. Attorneys for the plaintiffs alleged that the debt-buying firm wasn't licensed, sued for the wrong amounts, filed cases after the statute of limitations had expired, and included consumers' Social Security numbers in publicly available court filings, the state judiciary said.

In the coming months, the Maryland Court of Appeals will decide if the state should move to a different system for deciding whether many accident victims - who would not have been injured without the negligence of others - can recover at least partial compensation. Currently, juries in Maryland are not allowed to award these victims even reduced damages from businesses or insured automobile drivers when both the victim and another party are at fault. Even if the injuring party's degree of fault is more egregious than that of the victim, the victim still cannot recover.

A bipartisan group of Maryland lawmakers today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a state law that allows police to collect DNA samples from those arrested for violent crimes and some burglaries.  The lawmakers, led by Montgomery County Del. Sam Arora (D), said the law is a critical tool for law enforcement, has helped put rapists and other criminals behind bars and should be reinstated. Eighteen others signed on to the amicus brief. Attorney General Doug Gansler has also asked the court to uphold the state law. The 2008 DNA collection law was overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals in April, when judges agreed with civil liberties groups that have argued that people are presumed innocent at the time of arrest.