We don’t want to be L.A. East

The problem is here and the problem is real. The problem is gangs. We may be 3,000 miles from Los Angeles, but we’ve got the Crips and the Bloods, not to mention MS-13 in other parts of Maryland. While there were already troubling indications of the extent of the problem, the drive-by shooting of two small children in early June lodged the issue squarely in the public consciousness. A 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl were shot while playing in an inflatable swimming pool in West Baltimore’s... More

Time for answers in Sowers case

The State’s Attorney’s office says it doesn’t want to talk about it any more because it’s a personal matter. Sorry, folks, but it’s not that simple. By publicly questioning the veracity of reports surrounding the beating of Zach Sowers last June that led to his death in March, city state’s attorney spokesperson Margaret Burns ignited a firestorm of controversy that can only be quelled by full disclosure. In last month’s issue of Exhibit A, Burns told our reporter, Melody Simmons, that... More

Every cop needs a Taser to zap the bad guys

In today’s world, new technology comes at us from every direction. For police officers on the street, technology is not only a tool to help them do their job better, but in some cases it is also a tool that can protect police while reducing the odds of their having to use lethal force. The police carry various items on their belt every day, such as a gun, ammunition, radio, baton, flashlight, latex gloves, pepper spray, handcuffs and for some officers– a Taser gun. More  Read More →

Lack of hope leads to prison—again and again

Commuters are used to seeing the Frankenstein castle-like structure along the Jones Falls Expressway. Since the State Penitentiary opened in 1811, its purpose has remained unchanged—keeping convicted criminals inside its walls so others can remain safe. I recently had the opportunity to go behind the dark walls of the oldest state prison in America. More  Read More →

Still looking the other way on video gambling

Many weekday mornings I pass a pizza joint in Hampden with only one customer inside. Through the window I can see a scruffy-looking man shoving dollar bills into a video gambling machine. These machines are licensed by the city as if they are ‘amusement devices’ or games of skill. But there is no skill to these machines— only chance. These are slot machines without slots. More  Read More →

SARs - sharp tip of feds’ investigative spear

The recent demise of Eliot Spitzer as governor of New York has focused attention not only on his pricey vices but also on a little-known or -understood regulation of the Bank Secrecy Act requiring banks to file SARs — short for Suspicious Activity Reports. The SAR is one of the primary tools federal law enforcement agencies use to help uncover suspicious movements of money and money laundering. Agents from a small army of federal agencies pore over them regularly, looking for the one hot lead that... More

Take a tip from “The Wire” writers: Jurors should stand against ‘drug war’

The concept of jury nullification on these shores predates the founding of the American republic. In fact, the tradition of a free press in this country might not exist today had it not been for a courageous group of men (yes, juries were all male in those days) who stood up to unjust British law and the tyranny of the crown and refused to convict a fearless newspaper publisher of libel. That publisher was John Peter Zenger and the year was 1735. A group of New York lawyers had come to Zenger and... More

The law matters, so we’ll put it in plain language

Why are people fascinated by the law? I’m thrilled when I turn on the TV and find “Law & Order” on anytime day or night. I grab the next James Patterson mystery when it hits the shelves. Is it the free legal education? The characters who take me on an emotional roller coaster? Or just my escape from reality? I’m not really sure, but what I do know is that I am fascinated by the law. Now when I say “the law,” I don’t mean legal briefs written by attorneys, or official opinions that... More

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