Maryland Law

For Eddie Germino, being unemployed for a time last year worked to his advantage in a dispute with his Maryland landlord. Germino, 27, had moved out of the house where he had lived with other students. Now he was trying to get his security deposit back. "Since I had so much free time," he says, "I was able to do all the legal research and make all the calls and write all the letters. " And his efforts paid off. A court ordered the landlord earlier this year to pay Germino $2,700 — three times his original deposit.

I read with interest Del. Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg's critique of Marta Mossburg's interpretation of abortion law ("Mossburg wrong on Md. abortion law," May 9). Though the lawyer-politician has great knowledge and experience in many areas of Maryland law, his interpretation is not accurate here. In objecting to Ms. Mossburg's statement, "Abortion is virtually available on demand throughout a pregnancy," Mr. Rosenberg cites the specific abortion statute, noting that abortion is legally permissible when "necessary to protect the life or health of the woman or if the fetus is affected by genetic defect or severe deformity or abnormality.

As a cyclist and pedestrian, I thought the article "For pedestrians, Md. is one of the most dangerous" (Jan. 24) was particularly appropriate. Recently, I was out bicycling in Columbia and was waiting on the sidewalk to cross at one of the marked pedestrian crosswalks on Great Star Road in the River Hill community. As a driver blew through the intersection, I pointed up at the sign for pedestrian crossing, to direct his attention to it. He actually did a U-turn and came back to yell at me. He claimed that Maryland law didn't require him to stop and that and I had no business pointing to the sign; he then did another U-turn to return to westbound Great Star and, as he passed me, he rolled down his window to yell some invective.

Katherine L. Vaughns, a University of Maryland School of Law professor and secretary of the Center Stage board who immersed herself in the arts community, died of pancreatic cancer May 4 at a Sinai Hospital hospice unit. The Bolton Hill resident was 68. "She was a great, great citizen of Baltimore," said Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival. "We dedicated the opening night of the Maryland Film Festival to her. She was the most perfect board member. She did more than you asked, often before you asked.

A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a provision in Maryland law regulating who can carry a handgun, effectively loosening the restrictions governing firearm possession on the state's streets. In a 23-page memorandum opinion, made public Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Benson E. Legg said a state requirement forcing those applying for a gun-carry permit to show that they have a "good and substantial reason" to do so "impermissibly infringes the right to keep and bear arms," as guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

"How does this happen to an educator on state property?" a Baltimore County legislator was quoted as asking about Hannah Wheeler, Maryland's latest victim of workplace violence ("Cheltenham death inquiry involves teen," Feb. 20). The data on workplace violence, which is defined as being threatened or assaulted while at work, are crystal clear. Compared to those in other occupations, social services workers, including teachers of troubled youth and with those who work in professions such as mental health and health care, are disproportionately hurt by violence and assault from their students or patients.

In an attempt to keep one of his signature initiatives alive, Gov. Martin O'Malley wants state lawmakers to reauthorize police to collect DNA samples from crime suspects before the current statute expires later this year. The release of the Democratic governor's legislative agenda comes about a month before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the state's 2008 law is constitutional or a violation of a suspect's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Last year, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler issued an opinion suggesting that Maryland can and should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, even though such marriages are not allowed under Maryland law. Since several states and the neighboring District of Columbia now grant gay marriages, it seemed likely to be an issue when it came to how state agencies should handle things like pension and benefit rights for married same-sex couples....

Suspects arrested for violent crimes or burglaries will again have to submit to DNA collections, officials with several Maryland law enforcement agencies said Thursday. A day after U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. authorized the practice to resume, at least temporarily, a number of police departments said they had decided to collect samples as they await further word from the high court. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has asked the Supreme Court to decide whether collecting the genetic information before a person is convicted violates the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Lesbian and gay activists are challenging a 1916 Maryland law they say criminalizes their sex lives. Their lawsuit is part of a national campaign to wipe off the books similar state laws across the country.The activists and civil libertarians have targeted Maryland and other states -- such as Arkansas -- which they say have laws that single out homosexuals.Maryland's law makes it illegal for people of the same gender to engage in oral sex. They can face up to 10 years in prison under the law. The law makes anal sex illegal for all. Though the plaintiffs concede the criminal laws are rarely enforced against people engaging in consensual sex behind closed doors, they say the anti-sodomy law has other ramifications.

Why doesn't Baltimore's schools CEO need teaching experience, like other superintendents in the state? It was a question on the mind of many education observers last week, after hearing that the city's schools chief is not bound by the same requirements. It was also an issue of confusion for city school officials who, early in the day Tuesday, believed Tisha Edwards, 42 - who will soon become the city's interim schools CEO - would need to apply for a state waiver because while she has been a principal, she has never been a teacher.

In the Dunloggin, Beaverbrook and Font Hill neighborhoods of Howard County, residents say they've spent thousands on home generators and on food to replace the stuff that spoils when the power goes out for days. There have also been other expenses, they say: motel stays, flashlights, lanterns, gas hot plates and long, heavy-duty extension cords - the kind used to hook up to a neighbor's generator. "You see people running across the street with extension cords," said Cathy Eshmont, who lives in Dunloggin, one of several Ellicott City neighborhoods where residents say they've contended for years with frequent power failures.

State health officials don't know how often Marylanders use medications mixed in facilities lacking safety oversight, like a Massachusetts facility linked to three deaths here, but a newly passed law could tell them — and help demonstrate a gap in federal regulation. Batches of sterile drugs from so-called compounding pharmacies will be subject to state review under the measure Gov. Martin O'Malley signed this month. And pharmacists and doctors who perform compounding, in which drugs are somehow altered from their Food and Drug Administration-approved form, will face an extra layer of permits and inspections for drugs used in Maryland.

Let us beat the gun-rights crowd to the punch and agree with them right here and now that firearms aren't the only dangerous devices out there in dire need of greater regulation. It seems that certain types of fireworks may need to be added to that list, too. For those who aren't up on the latest word from the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, it appears some or all of the gunpowder allegedly used in the manufacture of bombs by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came from fireworks.

Cellphones and the Internet have not only altered the way we communicate, they have changed the way we can injure one another. The telecommunications revolution has created the capability of causing far greater harm to children than the bullying many of us remember from when we were young. The omnipresent nature of the Internet means that there is no place for the child who is victimized to hide. Not even one's home is a safe haven when repeated, vicious attacks appear on Facebook and Twitter.

Lawyers for a Harford County teen accused of killing his father last year attempted to convince a judge Friday that it would be unconstitutional to try the 17-year-old as an adult. Robert C. Richardson III's attorneys also said the boy is suffering from the effects of isolation at the county jail, asking at a motions hearing for their client to be transferred to a facility for juveniles. They said he is being held in solitary confinement at the Harford County Detention Center. "The jail in Harford County does not have the capability to address the needs of juvenile offenders and juvenile inmates," lawyer Kay Beehler said at a hearing Friday in Harford County Circuit Court.

REESE -- Carol Everett said she became involved in the abortion industry "believing I was helping women exercise their right to choose a safe, legal abortion."But, she told about 35 people in a speech here last night, "The reality is that I was involved in the murder of 35,000 babies and the maiming or death of at least 20 of those mothers."Sponsored by the Vote kNOw Coalition of Maryland, Ms. Everett has several speaking engagements across the state, in addition to last night's appearance at Clearfield Bible Church.

A car hurtled off the highway, fatally struck a pedestrian and overturned in front of City Hall and scores of downtown witnesses. A day later, police said the driver had walked free without charges. Despite anger and outrage from those who knew Matt Hersl, the longtime city worker and neighborhood volunteer killed Tuesday, Maryland State Police said they released the 43-year-old driver and left it to city prosecutors to decide whether to pursue charges. The decision met with criticism from a former leader of the state police, and City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young said he was "very disappointed.

People say dogs look like their owners. That may not be true, but they certainly look and act like we want them to, as breeds are a construct of generations of culling for certain aesthetic and other traits, including hunting ability, intelligence and, in some cases, viciousness. Which brings us to pit bulls, considered "inherently dangerous" under Maryland law since a 2012 Court of Appeals ruling. Some of the dogs that fall into that general description are ferocious, because humans designed them to be. But so are a lot of other dogs that, for whatever nature or nurture reason, like to bite people - which is why many urged lawmakers to overturn the decision.