Maryland Law

This is the busiest time of year for Robin McKinney. McKinney is the director and co-founder of the Maryland Creating Assets, Savings and Hope (CASH) Campaign, which provides free tax preparation for low- to moderate-income households in the state. She also lobbies state lawmakers to improve the finances of Maryland consumers during the legislative session. McKinney was an early advocate for state regulation of tax preparers who are paid to fill out people's returns. For years, anyone in Maryland could set up a business to fill out returns, which is why Marylanders could find tax preparation services springing up at gas stations and psychics' shops during tax season.

The chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees traffic laws will announce Tuesday that he will introduce legislation that would allow police to pull over a driver using a hand-held cell phone even if the motorist is not committing another offense. Del. James E. Malone Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, said Monday that he plans to renew his effort to treat driving while talking on a hand-held phone the same as driving while texting. Texting while behind the wheel is considered a primary offense, allowing an officer to stop a motorist for that alone.

As a University of Maryland law student in the late 1990s, Terry F. Hickey looked for ways to reach troubled teens before they ended up in the juvenile justice system. In 1997, he took a course that had been created to determine whether lawyers and law students, who typically work with children after they get in trouble, could help youths improve their neighborhoods. Hickey and a group of high school students in Park Heights began mapping vacant houses in their community and presenting findings to city leaders.

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.

The National Rifle Association and a trade organization representing the $13.6 billion gun industry began work in Annapolis this week as the General Assembly prepared to debate some of the nation's strictest gun laws. The NRA held a meeting for about 25 lawmakers Thursday to discuss strategy in a conversation expected to intensify as early as Friday morning, when Gov. Martin O'Malley releases details of his gun control plan. On Wednesday, the National Shooting Sports Foundation registered prominent Annapolis firm Alexander & Cleaver on its behalf.

Editor: I will introduce five bills that mandate the use of capital punishment in the case of mass murder, murder of a law enforcement officer or correctional officer, contract murder or serial killer. At a time when the Governor and liberal members of the General Assembly are attempting to abolish the death penalty,  I believe they are moving in the wrong direction. The recent mass murder of children in Newtown makes it clear that a capital punishment remedy is necessary. I find it hard to believe that the Governor, or any member of the General Assembly, would support the idea of an assassin of innocent children be granted life without parole.

The controversy over whether to change Maryland's three-year-old speed camera law arrived in Annapolis Tuesday, with some lawmakers calling for accountability and the State Highway Administration touting the value of its program. State Highway Administrator Melinda B. Peters said serious accidents in work zones have reached a 10-year low and only 2 percent of drivers are ticketed by the speed cameras. Peters told lawmakers it's necessary to have cameras operating in construction zones even when workers are not present — a practice some lawmakers have criticized — because the jersey barriers and irregular traffic patterns are a hazard.

Baltimore plans to pay its new speed camera contractor $11.20 per $40 citation - continuing its use of a so-called bounty system that Gov. Martin O'Malley and key state legislators say is illegal under Maryland law. "Talking to our attorneys here, we're within state law," said Adrienne Barnes, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation. She said no contract has yet been signed with the new vendor, Brekford Corp. of Hanover. The city paid its previous contractor, Xerox State and Local Solutions, up to $19.20 of each $40 ticket, amounting to about $13 million since late 2009.

Here's a recipe for systematically fact-checking the accuracy of speed camera tickets, at least in Baltimore City where the time stamps on citation photos go to the thousandth of a second: Take a random sample of tickets. Use the two time-stamped photos on each one to physically measure the distance traveled so as to calculate the vehicle's actual speed. Then compare that to the alleged speed listed on the ticket. Repeat. The Sun has employed this method to document erroneous readings at seven city speed cameras.

If any bureaucratic hurdles remain to implementing same-sex marriage, Gov. Martin O'Malley wants them identified and resolved quickly. The governor sent a directive to his cabinet Thursday requesting all state agencies "work expeditiously" to give equal marriage rights to same-sex couples in Maryland.  "Many areas of Maryland law address marital status - including insurance, taxes, governmental benefits, and property - and many State...