In the News 7/3/07

Candidates have all filed for City Elections. Nothing really exciting or unexpected here. Some good Jill Carter coverage, I suppose.

Many disenfranchised citizens finally had their voting rights restored yesterday. Ex-felons were able to register to vote in Maryland yesterday. One very small step in reducing recidivism.

Confirming what I already knew to be true, the Examiner reports that Zero-tolerance policing doesn't cut the murder rate. Good stuff, time to move forward with new ideas.

Or perhaps some old ideas? Though the piece has a determined "feel good" affect to it, I still think its important. This is the outcome of the Mayor placing detectives on foot patrols, at least in the short term. What do you think? The story makes it sound rather impressive in it's simplicity.

In the News 1/11/07

While most of Maryland is stocking up on purple face paint and 12-packs of Natty Boh in anticipation of Saturdays Ravens/Colts playoff contest, there are some interesting things happening for the Baltimore Orioles.

Cal Ripken, recent Hall of Fame inductee, has declared his interest in buying the Orioles franchise from Peter Angelos. This is great news for Orioles fans, should Angelos really decide to sell the team. The Orioles have suffered from poor ownership for years. Ownership that has refused to do what is necessary to win, be it spending more cash on quality players or improving the farm system. Ripken has been doing his thing with the Ironbirds, and I would love to see him try his hand with the Orioles.

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Martin O'Malley will officially leave Baltimore for Annapolis next week. He leaves the city in better shape than when he became Mayor, seven years ago.

Still, by almost any objective measure, the city has improved under O'Malley's watch in a number of key areas, from homicides to health to housing prices - sometimes marginally, sometimes markedly... And where it has not improved in absolute terms, such as population growth, the rate of decline has slowed.

His legacy includes CitiStat and the 311 call center, Project 5000 for systematically taking control of vacant properties, and the notion of building on strength in community development.

He also demonstrated that small targeted investments, in facilities that include playgrounds and supermarkets, can pay big dividends.

And he pushed big-ticket redevelopment projects, such as the East Baltimore biotech park and the west-side initiative that dominated yesterday's Board of Estimates meeting.

Democrats in Maryland are looking forward to big things from O'Malley. The list of accomplishments above seems a little bare. Lets hope the Governor can deliver more for Maryland, including Baltimore City, once he reaches Annapolis.

UPDATE: Bruce Godfrey at Crablaw thinks the O'Malley needs to get to work on choosing his cabinet. I am inclined to agree. Of course, there is always time to kick a field goal or two.
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Incoming Mayor Sheila Dixon has been cleared in an ethics inquiry.

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And finally, Baltimore City has started the year off with a "bang". It turns out that the suspect in the recent murder of Police Officer Troy Lamont Chesley Sr. had a rather long criminal record, a record that should have put him behind bars long before he had a chance to commit such a heinous crime.

When the future of Brandon Grimes was in the hands of Baltimore Circuit Judge M. Brooke Murdock nearly two years ago, he had two previous criminal convictions - both for nonviolent offenses - on his record. And the new charges before the judge were also for nonviolent offenses committed while he was on probation.

So Murdock - like other city judges routinely dealing with towering caseloads - accepted a guilty plea from Grimes for theft and multiple probation violations, giving him four concurrent six-month prison sentences.

But under a previously suspended sentence for an earlier conviction, Murdock could have put him away for as long as 10 years. Now Grimes stands accused of killing an off-duty city police officer this week in a botched robbery.

As the Judge says in the article, he doesn't have a crystal ball that tells him which offenders will be violent and which will not. Instead, Judges in the city must walk a fine line.

Judge John M. Glynn, chairman of the coordinating council and chief of the Circuit Court's criminal docket, said at the meeting that "we have to acknowledge the systemic failures."

In an interview after the meeting, Glynn said that the city Circuit Court system deals with about 10,000 felony cases a year but has the capacity to hold only about 500 jury trials.

This highlights the difficulty faced by police and judges in Baltimore City. There is just too much crime. They lack the resources and space to prosecute and jail offenders of all stripes.

...Murdock's action in Grimes' case in 2005 - where the penalties for a probation violation and a new offense are combined when a defendant agrees to plead guilty - has become common in a court system struggling to respond to the "huge number of crimes we have in the city of Baltimore."

Now, Grimes in no angel, and his criminal record speaks to this fact.

As an adult, Grimes was arrested about 17 times, almost entirely in Baltimore, according to law enforcement records. His charges over a 3 1/2 -year period included: drug possession; stolen auto; destruction of property; burglary; theft; traffic violations; false statement to police; assault and reckless endangerment, court records show.

So why wasn't Mr. Grimes in jail. Well, no one seems to really know. The "system" is simply "broken". I would argue that the system isn't broken, but instead is overburdened with non-violent offenders, and some number of them must have committed drug crimes. Eliminate those "crimes" by legalizing drugs, and I expect that the "huge number of crimes" will go down quickly.

Sadly, the solution will either be inaction or escalation, most likely the latter. Build more prisons, build a larger court, hire more police. If the system is so horribly broken, I think all options need to be put on the table as possible solutions.

In the News 12/27/06

Sadly, murders in Baltimore have topped last year's totals. The police don't even try to deny that the #1 reason for these murders is the existence of the illegal drug trade.

Homicides in Baltimore passed the 2005 total over the holiday weekend, driven police said, by illegal drugs and by a street culture that stresses retribution over cooperation with police.

...

Police said more than 80 percent of the city's homicide victims and over 90 percent of the suspects charged with homicide had a criminal record. The average homicide victim had been arrested more than 8 times, most typically for drug offenses.

Wow, what a huge surprise. A new generation of heavily armed businessmen fighting for their own corner in one of the most lucrative markets in the world. The article continues:

"We're not backing away from fighting crime, but Commissioner Hamm, from the day he took office, has said we cannot arrest our way out." Jablow said. "What we are doing is a targeted, proactive enforcment that makes sure we get our worst offenders off of the streets."

Noting that the crimninal background of the typical homicide suspect is virtually identical to the criminal background of the typical victim, Jablow said much of the city's violence was fueled by the illegal drug trade.

Proactive enforcement means raiding drug corners, enforcing lifestyle arrests, and hoping that you get lucky and one of the random people you arrest is carrying something illegal or has a warrant out for their arrest. The police basically admit that they are beaten and unable to stop the violence in Baltimore.

Drug prohibition is destroying the city. Police lament the lack of cooperation they receive from those involved in the drug trade, but what do they expect? Drug traffickers exist in a lawless underground economy. They impose their own cutthroat rules and regulations in the absence of economic law and order.

Basically, the police can't help you get your package back if it is stolen. The police can't help you take your corner back, or arrest someone for stealing your illegal goods. Even mentioning involvement in drug trafficking to a police officer could mean an arrest. Drug traffickers are left to enforce their own system of "justice" which leaves Baltimore with 270 murders for the year (so far).

I must also remind my readers that there is no end in sight for this violence. It will only end when we re-evaluate our drug-policy. Until then, the illegal drug trade will suck the life out of our city, our state, and our nation. If anyone thinks there is another option for ending the cycle of violence in Baltimore City, I invite you to please leave a comment.

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Of course, though officers admit that the illegal drug trade is the largest cause of violence in the city, they certainly don't plan on changing tactics or enforcement strategies. Instead, the police are busy bragging about the wonderful "EXILE" program, designed to reduce "gun crime". After reading the previous story, this program is clearly working wonders. I am sure that in a few more years, "gun crime" will be completely eliminated.

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WAPO editors weigh in on the death penalty in Maryland.

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And in other news (that illustrates the disconnect in priorities between Baltimore neighborhoods), folks in my neck of the city are concerned about a possible heli-pad being built at Union Memorial hospital. I live around 32nd and Guilford, so I guess things might get a bit noisier.

In The News

SADDEST NEWS OF THE DAY (for me at least)

Darren Brown, AKA Wiz of the AMAZING bands Mega City 4 and Ipanema has passed away. I just saw these guys play a few months ago and this is breaking my heart. From a messageboard:

The sudden and tragic death of Wiz (Darren Brown) has been announced.

Wiz died in hospital on 6th Dec 2007. His closest friends and family were with him.

Wiz was dearly loved by all his friends and family. He was a greatly respected and extraordinary musician and writer who touched the lives of many.

He will be deeply missed.

A page has been created with further news and comment.

Please leave your messages there.

http://www.myspace.com/wiztribute

Yeah, this has ruined my whole day. Wiz and his music have been a large part of my life for the past few years, and this is just stunning and horrible. It will be an all Wiz day on the ipod and then on the turntable at home.

RIP Wiz

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A suit has been brought to the Circuit Court of Baltimore that

"seeks to call attention to the reality that any person arrested in Maryland should not expect legal counsel when they first appear before a judicial officer," said Doug Colbert, a University of Maryland, Baltimore law professor assisting Venable's attorneys.

Apparently, poor defendants are being sent to their bail hearings without a public defender. I am not a legal scholar (+perhaps some of the more lawyerly MD bloggers can help me out here) but this doesn't seem very fair.

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Maryland is having budget problems.

Del. Murray D. Levy, a Charles County Democrat who is one of the Assembly's budget experts, said part of the problem is that Maryland's basic tax structure hasn't changed as its economy has evolved. Services are exempt from the sales tax, for example, but the economy is growing steadily more dependent on the service industry, Levy said.

Maryland could solve some of these problems by raising some taxes and lowering others to make revenue track more closely with the economy, but the process would be politically difficult because some people would inevitably come out winners and others losers, Levy said.

Franchot says he will beef up the revenue forecasting office, which he said has been off by as much as $1 billion in recent years.

"On the one hand, you appropriate money that turns out not to be there, and you have to cut dollars, or you are told money will not be there, so you make cuts in programs and then the money appears too late to be allocated," Franchot said. "The point is, these programs affect real people, so you want the figures to be as correct as possible."

First, its nice to know that Maryland will have progressive Peter Franchot as our new comptroller.

Secondly, what a shame it is that Martin O'Malley has been saddled by budget issues at the start of both his mayoral and gubernatorial careers. It makes me wonder what O'Malley would do differently if he had a budget surplus. One of his first tests it appears, is whether or not O'Malley can turn the State's financial situation around.

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Despite what some national media coverage would have you believe, Baltimore City still has heroes.

A heroic rescue took place in West Baltimore Wednesday morning, as a sweeping fire swept through the second and third floors of a row homes on West Pratt Street.

...

Quick acting neighbors Nicholas Matkins and Jeff Kuhn were outside on the street as the fire spread inside the building.

"There were five kids at the window," said Matkins. "As they were jumping we were catching."

When they saw young children standing by a window ready to jump, Matkins and Kuhn were there to catch them.

Moments later, Kuhn climbed up to the window and began pulling the children out and handing them down to Matkins and other bystanders who were gathering around the building.

"I saw one of the kids jump and hit the small roof," said Kuhn. He added, "I figured one of them was gonna get hurt. I climbed up on the roof and just started grabbing them out the window and passing them down to the next people."

All involved in the fire, including the family dog, are alive and well save for some bruises.

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Great news for Death Row inmates, Maryland may be recruiting the best and brightest doctors around....

...to kill you.

Yeah, yeah, its not all that doom and gloom and I have a rather cynical view here. Still, it just turns my stomach to see the death of a human being discussed in such a detached way. The moratorium seemed like a fine idea to me and it would help our courts avoid the difficult discussion of how gently they should carry out state sanctioned revenge killing.

In the News

Kujanblog, in association with Google news search (not really), brings you interesting news from around the state.

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Somewhat discouraging article in the WAPO about Charles Dutton and his support for Mike Steele. Dutton, the actor and Baltimore native recorded a radio ad for Steele, but is dismayed by the reports of homeless men from Philadelphia being paid to distribute misleading (to say the least) campaign literature.

Dutton then goes on to make some completely unsupportable claims about Ben Cardin and Martin O'Malley. Apparently, all Dutton wanted out of Steele was a Senator who would return the calls of his Black constituents. But, but, but... what about passing legislation that will make America a better place for working folks and for folks in poverty? Nah, just phone calls.

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In case you didn't know already, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum have been offering free admission since October 1st. Guess what has happened since then?

Museum attendance is up more than 200%.

My girlfriend and I dropped into the BMA a few weeks ago and it was totally worth the 10 minute walk from my Charles Village apartment. I might try to make it to the Walters this weekend.

The Baltimore Museum of Art
The Walters Art Museum

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On the medical front in Maryland, the Maryland Health Care Commission is working on a plan for the assembly that would require all Marylanders to buy health insurance. A similar bill passed in Massachusetts. It would require employers to pay the lions share of health plan costs for their employees, and the kicker is that the employee has the choice when it comes to coverage, not the employer, as it always has been.

Towards the end of the article, I noticed this awesome piece of news:

A $1 per pack increase in the state cigarette tax is being pushed by the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative to raise an estimated $200 million a year to expand Medicaid to more adults and to subsidize small businesses that can't afford to pay for health insurance for their employees. The Maryland Hospital Association considers expanded health insurance coverage its top priority.

As a smoker I actually see this as a good thing. First, it creates revenue that Maryland desperately needs after 4 years of Ehrlich. Secondly, and most importantly, if state and city governments are serious about ending tobacco use (I don't even think it should be on the radar) the best method is increasing the tax on it. Bans in bars do nothing but hurt business and force me to smoke outside. Raising taxes is the key. I wouldn't buy a pack of cigarettes if it cost $9, but I will probably still buy them at $5.15, which will be about the price of a pack of Camel lights after the proposed tax increase.

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And finally, my main man for 2008, John Edwards, visited Maryland, bring with him his message of honesty and economic populism:

But it was his focus on honesty that seemed to resonate most strongly with several in the crowd, many of whom waited in line after his speech to have their books signed.

"Most politicians follow a package that sells, and I'm tired of being lied to," said Jan Chapman. "He's genuine and I don't think he can be bought by special interests. That's very rare."

Indeed it is.

See ya' in the comments.