Penalties

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would cut the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in a way that curtails the right to an initial jury trial on the charges. By a 16-4 vote, members said, the panel gave its OK to Del. Luke Clippingers's bill setting the maximum penalty for possesssion of 7 grams or less of marijuana at 90 days and a $500 fine. Previously those convicted of the charge could have been given up to a year in jail. With a potential penalty of more than 90 days, defendants were entitled to a jury trial in Circuit Court  -- an option may have taken.  Under the legislation, defendants would initially be  tried before a District Court judge but would retain the right to appeal to the Circuit Court.

NFL must prove guilt Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times The suspension of Jonathan Vilma was not too severe if in fact he offered $10,000 bounties to any teammate who took out Kurt Warner or Brett Favre. That's clearly crossing the line. But the thing is, did he actually do that? That's what the NFL needs to prove, or risk suspicion that the league rushed to judgment. It's time for the league to lay its cards on the table, reveal what specific evidence it has against the Saints, and put the matter to rest.

What the mayor faces These are the charges, and possible penalties, that Mayor Sheila Dixon faces at her trial beginning Monday: CHARGES Count 1: Felony theft, of gift cards worth more than $500 from developer Patrick Turner. Count 2: Felony theft, of gift cards worth more than $500 from developer Ronald Lipscomb and Doracon Contracting. Count 3: Theft, of gift cards valued at less than $500 purchased by Baltimore City Housing. Count 4: Fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary, of gift cards donated by Turner.

These two teams will meet for the first time in an NCAA tournament first-round contest. Stony Brook (7-9) is one of two participants in the 16-team field with a sub-.500 record, but the Seawolves did capture their third America East tournament crown and second in the last three years. Johns Hopkins (11-3) is 11-2 all-time in first-round games and is 8-1 in the first round under coach Dave Pietramala. Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Homewood Field in Baltimore Sunday afternoon.

Penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana in Maryland — less than 10 grams — will drop in October, when a new law goes into effect reducing the maximum prison term to 90 days from one year and cutting the potential fine in half, to $500 from $1000. Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein backed the bill, which was signed into law Wednesday, as a way to reduce the number of cases clogging the city's circuit courts. "To continue making Baltimore safer, we must focus our limited resources on the strategic investigation and aggressive prosecution of violent offenders," Bernstein said in a statement.

No. 2 Johns Hopkins disposed of UMBC, 12-5, at theKonica Minolta Face-Off Classicat M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, but reining in penalties figures to be a topic the team will address this week during practice. The Blue Jays were flagged for six penalties, including a pair of 60-second penalties for sophomore long-stick midfielder Jack Reilly on the same play in the second quarter. The Retrievers were awarded seven extra-man opportunities, which nearly matched the 10 man-down chances Johns Hopkins had surrendered in five contests prior to Saturday.

The Federal Reserve proposed new rules Wednesday on credit card penalties, including a ban on inactivity fees that some banks have been adopting as card reforms cut into their revenue. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which ushered in a wide range of consumer protections last month, also required the Fed to develop rules so cardholder penalties are "reasonable and proportional." Among the proposals: •A ban on inactivity fees. •No more than one penalty on a single violation, such as a late payment.

I n the final quarter of the Chicago Bears game a week ago, Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth intercepted a pass. After he was tackled, he ran 40 yards in celebration, drawing a delay-of-game penalty. A few minutes later, Ravens cornerback Frank Walker intercepted a pass. After he was tackled, he threw the ball 40 yards, drawing a delay-of-game penalty. Those penalties seemed harmless coming against the Bears, but there is no such thing as a meaningless penalty. They were just another small window into a major problem with the Ravens.

Running back Ray Rice rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Joe Flacco completed almost 63 percent of his passes en route to 270 yards, and rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith amassed 165 yards on six catches in the Ravens' 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 20. But the one aspect that stuck out to Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis was the team's inability to avoid penalties, especially of the pre-snap variety. Of the Bengals' six penalties that day, three were false starts that put the offense in tough spots.

The Ravens enjoyed a franchise first when they emerged from Sunday's 20-13 win against the Houston Texans without committing a single penalty. Coach John Harbaugh applauded the players' ability to refrain from getting flagged. “I think our guys understand how to direct their passion really well into football, and that's what they've done a great job of throughout the season,” he said. “… It's critically important. To me, it's emotional smarts, it's playing smart football, it's understanding when to be aggressive and when not to be. Basically, it's between the whistles, and the rest of it doesn't matter.”

Penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana in Maryland — less than 10 grams — will drop in October, when a new law goes into effect reducing the maximum prison term to 90 days from one year and cutting the potential fine in half, to $500 from $1000. Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein backed the bill, which was signed into law Wednesday, as a way to reduce the number of cases clogging the city's circuit courts. "To continue making Baltimore safer, we must focus our limited resources on the strategic investigation and aggressive prosecution of violent offenders," Bernstein said in a statement.

Connecticut Gov.Dannel P. Malloyhas signed a bill outlawing the death penalty, which passed both the House and the Senate with bi-partisan support. Connecticut is the 5th state in five years and the 17th state in the nation to have abandoned the death penalty. The criminal justice system, like all human institutions, is imperfect. Where the death penalty is concerned, it isn't a question of whether the state has executed an innocent person. The only relevant questions are when has the state done so, and how often.

Game 4 BRUINS@ CAPITALS Thursday, 7:30p.m. TV: Comcast SportsNet WIt was Brooks Laich who pointed out late Monday night that one never knows when a Stanley Cup playoff series will turn chippy — or worse — but that it is almost inevitable. "Sometimes it happens right away in the first game, sometimes it takes two or three games," he said in the quiet of a losing locker room. "Things start to happen. They're trying to get you off your game, you're trying to get them off theirs.

While Rick Dutrow appeals to the Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday to have his horse King and Crusader reinstated as the winner of the $75,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship at Laurel Park, his future continues to hang in the balance because of another case in New York. Dutrow is facing what is considered to be the harshest penalty ever handed down in New York state horse racing. Barring a successful appeal of that case, Dutrow could lose his trainer's license for 10 years, a penalty that most states, including Maryland, would abide by, virtually costing him his livelihood.

The General Assembly has approved a bill imposing steep penalties on homeowners who are caught getting homestead property tax credits they're not entitled to receive. Fines would equal 25 percent of any undeserved break - a considerable punishment given that the credit currently cuts the tax bills of many Baltimore homeowners by thousands of dollars per year. "Hopefully this significant penalty will deter people from abusing this tax credit in the future," the bill's sponsor, Del. Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg, said Saturday evening after final passage by the House of Delegates.

I have spent a lot of my life waiting. I waited for two years to be executed, and I waited in prison for more than eight years — all for a murder I had nothing to do with. After finally being exonerated in 1993, I had to wait 10 years for the DNA that cleared me to be used to bring the real killer to justice. But the longest wait of all has been my two decades since I left prison, prodding and pushing the Maryland General Assembly to end capital punishment in our state once and for all. I am disappointed for yet another year as the legislature will soon adjourn for 2012 without a floor vote in either the House of Delegates or Senate on repealing the death penalty.

Along with junior goalkeeper Mike Fisher, senior defenseman David Henry is the veteran voice on a Holy Cross defense looking to improve on the 11.1 goals per game the unit surrendered last year. Henry, a Davidsonville native and Severn graduate, has made 26 starts in the team's last 30 contests and was named a captain in the offseason. Because of the Crusaders' expected youth on defense, Holy Cross coach Jim Morrissey said Henry must avoid last season's habit of collecting fouls.

Punishment fits crime Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times The sanctions against USC were definitely in line with the laundry list of charges levied by the NCAA. USC didn't get the death penalty — the NCAA doesn't go that route anymore since it nearly destroyed SMU — but the infractions committee did strongly consider a one-year television ban. A two-year bowl ban hurts, but not as much as the loss of 30 scholarships. That's where the NCAA punches when it wants to hurt.

Federal prosecutors filed notice that they will not seek the death penalty against three Baltimore men charged with directing a drug enterprise in the city's red light district and killing a woman they suspected of being an informant. An indictment was unsealed in January charging Monica McCants and her son, Donte Baker, along with Gary Cromartie and Tyrone Johniken, with racketeering conspiracy for allegedly directing a drug-dealing operation on The Block through violence and intimidation.