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.

If You Read One Story About Barack Obama This Year

Read this one.

I am still skeptical of Senator Obama, but after reading this article, I appears that that skepticism is exactly what the Senator expects.

Maryland Voting Machines may have Paper Trail by '08

Lets just hope it actually happens.

Not too much else to say about this. What a waste of money those electronic machines have turned out to be.

Community Supported Affordable Housing Bill Faces Challenges

Someone is undercutting the public interest as it relates to an affordable housing bill in the city.

The leaders of some city agencies are pushing to significantly restrict legislation that would require developers to include affordable units in all Baltimore residential projects, but the City Council sponsors of the bill are sticking by their original plan.

The bill, in its original form, the form community advocates refer to as the "strong" bill, is a progressive piece of legislation.

The bill - formally introduced last night - would require residential developers who get major subsidies or who benefit from significant rezoning to reserve as much as 20 percent of the units in a project for low- or moderate-income people. Developers working without subsidies or rezoning would have to offer 10 percent of their project for affordable use.

The legislation would also create a funding stream for an inclusionary housing trust that voters endorsed on the Nov. 7 ballot. Twenty percent of the city's transfer taxes and recordation fees could fill the fund with $10 million or more a year.

The bill also would set up an inclusionary housing board to consider exceptions to the law and measure its effectiveness.

I like this bill because it gives the city a stronger hand when it comes to development deals. If the city is going to go out of its way to give a developer subsidies and the luxury of relaxed zoning rules, that developer needs to be compelled to give something back. 20% of their units seems appropriate, if not a little low.

Its also nice to see the will of the voters expressed with the "inclusionary housing trust".

None of this will matter however, if several city departements have their way.

Late last week, the agencies drafted a substitute ordinance that, among other things, eliminated the funding for the trust fund and the housing board. It also would let developers who do not get subsidies or rezonings off the hook for affordable units.

First, why even have a ballot initiative if the policy behind that initiative is going to be eliminated? I don't even know how to address that.

When it comes to letting "independent" developers off the hook, I am ambivalent. It would be nice to require all new development in the city to provide affordable housing. I am not sure the difference between the amount of subsidized and unsubsidized development in the city. If most development is subsidized, then we shouldn't worry about getting the unsubsidized developers to include affordable units. However, if the majority of development is unsubsidized, it will be necessary to require these developers to include affordable housing.

Advocates of the original "strong" bill will accept nothing less than a bill that targets all development.

"There are too many people working in this city who cannot afford to live in this city, and that injustice cannot continue," he said. "This bill is justice."

The crowd insisted that not just any bill would do. Only a "strong" one.

And by that, said the Rev. Karen Brau, pastor of Amazing Grace in East Baltimore, they mean a bill that includes both a trust fund and a board and targets all residential development.

Supporters of the "strong" bill have been emailing their council members. You can do the same.

Advocates for Gay Marriage in Maryland Speak Out

Good for them.

At a press conference at the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, representatives of the professional groups stressed there is extensive, consistent scientific evidence showing that children raised by lesbian and gay couples develop as well as children raised by heterosexual couples.

"The evidence is clear: No matter how you measure it, children raised by same-sex couples are no different from their peers raised by opposite-sex couples. In areas such as social development, psychological functioning, cognitive ability, and adjustment, there is no difference when comparing these kids," said Dr. Paul Clavelle, President of the Maryland Psychological Association.

I would be very proud if the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the decision of Judge M. Brook Murdoch. Her reasoning makes a lot sense to me.

"After much study and serious reflection, this court holds that Maryland's statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage cannot withstand constitutional challenge," Murdock wrote in her decision.

"When tradition is the guise under which prejudice or animosity hides, it is not a legitimate state interest," the judgment said.

Indeed.

Update: Republic of T has an interesting take on same-sex marriage and the difficulties of state-by-state legalization.

Baltimore Sun jumps on the bandwagon

The Sun has picked up the witness murder story I blogged about yesterday, as well as the "Stupid witnesses get what they deserve" meme, and shame on them for it.

Cooperating with authorities - though vital to the criminal justice system - can be dangerous.

.....

But many Baltimore witnesses aren't accepting help. Some, like the Dawsons, refuse to leave their dangerous neighborhoods. Still more witnesses, like Dowery, participate only halfway, agreeing to relocate but returning to their old haunts, witness coordinators say.

Halfway? Are you kidding me? From the same story:

After watching his friend rob drug dealers in his East Baltimore neighborhood and then overhearing the dealers' bosses discuss killing the robber, Dowery agreed to become a witness in a city murder case.

Dowery was shot at least six times outside his home in October 2005 in what police believe was an attempt to silence him, but he testified anyway. When the case became federal this year, he agreed to help with that, too.

Ah yes, risking your life multiple times in the interest of justice is "going halfway" for the Sun. What more could Mr. Dowery have done short of raising the murdered men from the dead?

Rep. Cummings even joins the party:

"You can give someone all the witness protection you want, but if someone wants to go back to their neighborhood, what can you do?" said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat who has proposed legislation to beef up local witness protection programs.

...

Cummings introduced legislation that would help give states a version of witness protection more like the federal program. The legislation has languished for almost two years in a House subcommittee, but with the Democrats about to assume power in Washington, Cummings said he plans to reintroduce it in January.

State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy has said she supports Cummings' bill. She said she wants witness protection to be handled statewide and run by the Maryland State Police, instead of individual state's attorney's offices. The goal, she said, would be to give Baltimore witnesses the same sense of security that federal witnesses have.

What is disturbing is what Rep. Cummings acknowledges without even saying or meaning to. He acknowledges that the police have NO CONTROL over the violence in the city. Its assumed that Mr. Dowery's returning to his neighborhood might as well have been a suicide attempt. As if it is Mr. Dowery's fault that he was murdered, not that of the spineless criminals that shot a father of nine. Those criminals are an afterthought. They most likely won't be caught, and no one seems to care.

All the state cares about is keeping their witnesses alive long enough to testify, and if those witnesses DARE TO GET MURDERED, they probably had it coming.

Witness Slaying Underscores... Something

Another witness has been murdered in Baltimore. Just try to guess who he was witnessing against.

Dowery's involvement with the justice system began Oct. 13, 2004, as he stood in his doorway. His friend James Wise told him about a plan to rob drug dealers. Dowery tried to talk Wise and Wise's younger companion out of it, but he watched as they went through with the plan.

Then Dowery said he saw the drug dealers' bosses hop into a car and chase after the robbers. He read in the newspaper that Wise had been killed. He decided to tell police what he knew and that he would testify.

Mr. Dowery, a father of 9 had come into the city to be with his relatives for thanksgiving. He was shot after dinner at a corner bar. Of course, the police blame him for having the audacity to visit his family.

Dowery was warned by local and federal authorities not to go back to his old neighborhood, but a major problem in protecting witnesses is keeping them from returning to their homes.

"We cannot take their safety more seriously than they take their own safety," said Gloria Luckett, a victim-witness assistance coordinator for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.

This is insanity.

The Examiner has the gall to say in their headline that this slaying "underscores Baltimore's problem with witness intimidation." I disagree. It underscores Baltimore's problem with drugs being illegal.

Now, I must admit, this post is coming one day after watching a rather moving episode of HBO's The Wire. If you are reading this and are not familiar with the show, you are doing yourself a great disservice. If you live in Baltimore, and have the desire to see this city live and breath again, you must watch this show.

Yeah, the show is fiction, but the streets they shoot it on are real. The witness slayings, the demonization of witnesses within sections of the Black community are real. The bodies (269 last year, about the same this year) and the ruined lives are definitely real. The culture that has been created by the criminalization of drugs is real and pervasive.

But what can Baltimore do (what can any city really do)? Drugs aren't going anywhere. They are an extremely profitable business, just ask Anheuser-Busch or R.J. Reynolds. I seriously doubt that I will live to see any comprehensive drug policy reform in the country, which is a terrible shame. Baltimore will not heal until drugs are legalized. Neither will Detroit or St. Louis or any town afflicted by the ills of the illegal drug trade. I really wish that there were other options, but I just can't think of any.

It has taken a few years for much of the public to realize the War in Iraq is a losing battle. That our policies are doing more harm than good. That our policies are getting people killed in huge numbers. I wonder when Americans will begin to examine our own war at home and what the policies of that war are doing to Americans every day?

Oh Newt...

He sure does care about free speech.

So much so, that the folks who hold the "Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment award dinner" thought that Former Speaker Gingrich deserved an award for protecting free speech.

Newt gave a speech at the dinner and in it he laid out his vision for the future of free speech in America. As you might have expected, Newt is a stalwart protector of the constitution.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

See, Former Speaker Gingrich gets it. He knows that if we don't curtail free speech soon, we could lose a whole American city. Thank god he is still considering a run for President in 2008.

We need a Commander in Chief who is willing to ask the tough questions. Questions like, "Who really needs this first amendment anyway!?"