Snowden

Carl O. Snowden, the civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office who was arrested on a drug charge last week, was in a car with a convicted felon in Druid Hill Park when city police officers smelled marijuana, according to court documents released Monday. Two officers said in a charging document that they pulled up in an unmarked car Thursday afternoon, approached a 2010 Honda Pilot with all four windows rolled down, and smelled "a strong odor" of marijuana coming from inside.

Now I understand what prompted Carl O. Snowden's three arrests for driving under the influence: emotional trauma ("City police detail marijuana arrest of Md. civil rights official Snowden," April 24). Yes, Maryland's esteemed and first director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Maryland State Attorney General's Office needs a drink to deal with the pain. Truly a sympathetic figure. I think the state would be well served in this era of austerity by eliminating Mr. Snowden's position following what we are assured to be his windfall payment from his lawsuit against Anne Arundel County.

Now I understand what prompted Carl O. Snowden's three arrests for driving under the influence: emotional trauma ("City police detail marijuana arrest of Md. civil rights official Snowden," April 24). Yes, Maryland's esteemed and first director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Maryland State Attorney General's Office needs a drink to deal with the pain. Truly a sympathetic figure. I think the state would be well served in this era of austerity by eliminating Mr. Snowden's position following what we are assured to be his windfall payment from his lawsuit against Anne Arundel County.

Carl O. Snowden, the civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office who was arrested on a drug charge last week, was in a car with a convicted felon in Druid Hill Park when city police officers smelled marijuana, according to court documents released Monday. Two officers said in a charging document that they pulled up in an unmarked car Thursday afternoon, approached a 2010 Honda Pilot with all four windows rolled down, and smelled "a strong odor" of marijuana coming from inside.

On April 9, 2004, REBECCA SNOWDEN, beloved wife of the late James J. Snowden, and dear mother of Melvin and Dr. Shirlene Snowden, who is like a daughter to her. Also survived by other loving relatives and friends. Mrs. Snowden will rest at the JOSEPH L. RUSS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Avenue, on Wednesday from 3 to 8 P.M. A Wake will be held at St. Mark U.M.C., 1440 Dorsey Road in Hanover, MD, on Thursday from 10 to 10:30 A.M., when Funeral Service will begin. Interment Crownsville Veterans Cemetery.

Carl O. Snowden, a longtime Annapolis activist and director of the Office of Civil Rights for the attorney general's office, was arrested early Tuesday and charged with alcohol-related driving offenses, according to Anne Arundel police. Snowden, 55, was arrested after a county police officer saw his Acura Integra drifting in and out of his southbound lane on Route 97 near Farm Road in Crownsville, police said. It was Snowden's third DUI arrest since 2002. Shortly before 1:30 a.m., the arresting officer reported that Snowden veered across the center line and straddled the shoulder several times before the officer pulled him over.

On April 29, 2003, MARGARET J.; beloved wife of Elvin W. Snowden; devoted mother of Wayne L. Snowden and the late Mark R. Snowden; loving grandmother of Michael and Matthew Snowden; great-grandmother of Kyla Snowden. Friends may call at the Johnson Funeral Home, P.A., 8521 Loch Raven Blvd. (beltway exit 29B), on Friday, from 7 to 8 P.M., where a Memorial Service will follow at 8 P.M. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 8516 Loch Raven Blvd.

On June 17, 2003, ANTHONY P. "TONY" SNOWDEN. A Memorial Service will be held on July 1, 2003, 6 P.M., at Christian Unity Temple, 3900 Groveland Ave.

On November 12, 2006, JOSEPH B. SNOWDEN, SR., beloved husband of Irene Snowden, loving father of Patricia M. Shaw, Janis I. Davis, Joseph B. Snowden, Jr., and Donna A. Jones. He is also survived by a host of other relatives and friends. On Thursday friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREEN FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Baltimore National Pike from 4 to 8 P.M. On Friday, Mr. Snowden will lie in state at St. Bernadines Roman Catholic Church, 3814 Edmondson Avenue where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A.M., with services to follow.

On July 18, 2004, ARTHUR ROLAND SNOWDEN, SR., beloved husband of Claudine Snowden; loving father of Arthur R. Snowden, Jr. and Claude V. Snowden. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Memorial Service will be held at Gospel Tabernacle Baptist Church, 3100 Walbrook Avenue on Saturday, July 24, 2004. Family hour will be 11 A.M. followed by the service at 11:30 A.M. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 8219 Town Center Drive, Baltimore, MD 21236.

Carl O. Snowden, civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office, was charged in Baltimore District Court with marijuana possession Friday — the same day he announced a voluntary leave of absence from his job — according to online court records. He was under court supervision for a drunken-driving conviction at the time of the arrest, and could face 60 days in jail if Anne Arundel County prosecutors pursue a probation-violation charge against him. "We are confident that Mr. Snowden will not be found guilty," Snowden's lawyer, Carey J. Hansel III, said in an emailed statement.

A decision by Anne Arundel County officials to eliminate $5,000 in funding for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast has resulted in a pointed back-and-forth between the administration of County Executive John R. Leopold and a prominent local civil rights leader. Carl O. Snowden, the former longtime chairman of the breakfast, alleges racial insensitivity on the part of the county. He sharply criticized Leopold after it became public that the county had rescinded its annual funding because the committee that puts on the breakfast is not a registered nonprofit group, which officials say is a requirement.

A pedestrian attempting to cross Snowden River Parkway in Columbia is in critical condition after being struck by a car early Saturday morning, Howard County police said. Jacob Carl Lanswerk, 27, of Michigan, was trying to cross the road in the area of Snowden Square Drive just before 5 a.m. at a "non-pedestrian crossing location" when he was struck by a 2004 Toyota Camry heading northeast, according to police. Lanswerk was transported by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, according to a police spokesman.

The Anne Arundel County branch of the NAACP held a show of support Tuesday afternoon for Carl O. Snowden, the head of the state attorney general's civil rights office. The event came on the heels of Snowden's appeal of a drunken-driving conviction. Several community leaders, including elected officials and the president of the state NAACP, spoke so effusively about Snowden's four decades of community activism that Snowden, 57, reminded those in attendance at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center in Annapolis that it was "not a eulogy.

The civil rights director for the state attorney general's office was convicted Friday of driving while impaired, but the sentence for Carl O. Snowden remained the same as before an illegal disposition was tossed out last month. "An appeal will be filed," Snowden said after leaving the courtroom, where Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth changed the initial outcome for the drunken-driving charge. In November, Snowden, 57, received probation before judgment on a drunken-driving charge from the previous June.

Carl O. Snowden, who heads the Maryland attorney general's civil rights office, is appealing an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge's decision to cast aside a lenient sentence Snowden received last year in a drunken-driving case. The case initially had resulted in Snowden's second probation-before-judgment on a drunken-driving charge since 2003. A change in the law in 2009 bars more than one such disposition every 10 years. Before that, it had been permitted once every five years.

On Saturday, October 9, 2004, ADELINE H. SNOWDEN (nee Holland), beloved wife of Beaufort "Bud" Snowden, sister of the late Paul and Ward Holland, Dorothy Whittington and Mary L. Jones. Funeral Services will be held today at 11 A.M. at the Stallings Funeral Home, P.A., 3111 Mountain Road, Pasadena. Interment Glen Haven Cemetery. Memorial Contributions may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 445 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.

A judge turned down a request Thursday by the head of the Maryland attorney general's civil rights office to keep a lenient sentence for drunken driving that the prosecutor and judge belatedly realized was illegal. Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth gave Carl O. Snowden a week to decide whether he wants to withdraw his November plea and start over the case with a different judge or have a conviction on his record and possibly a harsher sentence. In what has turned out to be a high-profile mistake, the original outcome was probation before judgment.

Maryland lawmakers patted themselves on the back last year after adopting a package of anti-drunken- driving laws, with a flood of news releases on the effort to get tough on repeat offenders. But not everyone got the message. In a high-profile gaffe, a judge in Anne Arundel County gave a repeat drunken driver a free pass last month, granting him probation before judgment — a finding that spares him a conviction if he satisfactorily completes probation. The lenient sentence violates a 2009 law that is supposed to prohibit judges from issuing more than one probation before judgment within a 10-year period.