Friday, May 3, 2013
The effort to place the issue on the ballot will be led by Democratic Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger and Washington County Republican Del. Neil Parrott.
Proponents of the death penalty in Maryland will attempt to overturn at the ballot box a new law repealing capital punishment. The effort to place the issue before voters in 2014 will be spearheaded by Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger and Washington County Del. Neil Parrott. The pair is expected to make the effort to collect the required 55,736 official during a Friday morning announcement near Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Shellenberger said the death penalty is an important tool for prosecutors. "One only has to look at what has taken place in our country in the last 10 years—Virginia Tech; Aurora, CO; Boston," Shellenberger said. "We don't know what is going to happen in the future but we should at least have the …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The 28-19 vote helps Gov. Martin O'Malley's top legislative priority avoid a conference committee some believed would kill the legislation.
Maryland senators voted Thursday night to approve an amended gun control bill rather than send the legislation to conference committee. Senators approved the bill by a vote of 28-19 just one day after the House debated the bill for 10 hours over two-days and added 17 amendments to a bill previously approved by the Senate. The bill was a major component of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s legislative priorities for the 90-day legislative session. “The fact is, the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 provides no safety,” said Sen. EJ Pipkin, Senate Minority Leader. The concurrence means that the bill goes to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature rather than to a conference committee with just four days left in the session. Sen. Brian Frosh, a Montgomery …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The amended bill, passed by a 78-61 vote, will go back to the Senate and possibly a conference committee.
The Maryland House of Delegates Wednesday passed gun control legislation proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley by a vote of 78-61. The amended bill bans 40 kinds of rifles including the AR15, requires fingerprinting and licensing of all purchasers of new guns and broadens the law prohibiting firearms purchases by anyone who is involuntarily committed because of mental illness. The bill was a major component of O'Malley's legislative package announced at the beginning of the 90-day session. The House of Delegates debated the bill for nearly 10 hours over two days. The amended bill will return to the Senate. The bill could go to a conference committee if the Senate does not accept the changes made by the House. Both the House and Senate must …
Friday, March 29, 2013
The bill that increases the gasoline tax by as much as 20 cents by 2016 now heads to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature.
A tax that will increase the cost of gas by as much as 20 cents by 2016 was given final approval Friday by the Maryland Senate. The bill passed largely along party lines by a vote of 27-20. Eight Democrats joined all 12 Republicans in opposing the tax increase measure. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is expected to sign the tax into law. The final vote came after legislators suspended the rules, allowing them to take both a preliminary and final vote in the same day and allow many lawmakers to leave the capital to observe Good Friday. The bill increases the state's tax on gas by more than 20 cents to 43.7 cents per gallon on July 2016. The tax would increase to 44.6 cents per gallon if the federal government …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A preliminary vote in the full Maryland Senate could be scheduled as early as Friday.
The Senate Budget and Tax Committee Thursday approved a bill that would increase the gas tax by as much as 20 cents by 2016. Sen. Ed DeGrange, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, joined Republican Sens. David Brinkley, Richard Colburn and George Edwards in voting against the bill. The nine remaining Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the bill as approved last week by the House of Delegates. With the committee's approval, the bill could be scheduled for a preliminary vote by the full 47-member Senate as early as Friday. The bill would increase the state's tax on gas by more than 20 cents to 43.7 cents per gallon on July 2016. The tax would increase to 44.6 cents per gallon if the federal government fails to pass an Internet sales tax…
Friday, March 22, 2013
The final debate on the bill turns contentious amidst accusations that House Speaker Michael Busch cut short the debate and opportunity to vote.
Tempers flared Friday afternoon following the debate and final vote by the House of Delegates on a proposal to raise the gas tax in Maryland. When the final vote was taken, the House approved the bill 78-56 but the actual outcome, and roll call vote, remains a matter of contention amidst accusations from Republicans that the debate and final vote were ended too quickly. The bill would increase the state's tax on gas by more than 20 cents to 43.7 cents per gallon on July 2016. The tax would increase to 44.6 cents per gallon if the federal government fails to pass an Internet sales tax. The tax is also tied to the consumer price index, which would allow for automatic increases without any additional legislative action. Those increases are …
Friday, March 15, 2013
The bill now goes to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature.
The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill repealing the death penalty in Maryland. With the 82-56 vote, the bill will go to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature.
Friday, March 8, 2013
The Former Democratic Congressional candidate explains her action on the same day she pleads guilty to voting illegally in Maryland in 2006 and 2010.
Updated (5:34 p.m.)—A Cockeysville Democrat who was forced to end her bid to unseat Rep. Andy Harris after it was learned she voted illegally in Maryland explained her actions on the same day she pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Wendy Rosen, 58, said her votes in 2006 and 2010 were "an act of civil disobedience in recognition of the millions of legitimate voters who have been illegally prevented from voting or having their votes counted, during the past four presidential elections." Rosen explained the reasons behind her votes in a statement emailed Friday after she pleaded guilty to two counts of voting illegally in Maryland. "What I did wasn’t right, it wasn’t smart, but it was one [act] of civil disobedience, not …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
A state senator wants a new state bird; one man's technolgical fortress is his castle; and the Senate president feels snubbed by Obama.
It's not a statue in front of the office building that bares his name but Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller did receive a bust of himself this week courtesy of the Regional Manufacturing Institute. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, a Perry Hall Democrat, gave a sneak preview of the small, light-weight bust of Miller moments before presenting it to the Senate's top dog. "You can't have too much Mike Miller," Klausmeier said. The technology is similar to what was used in a scene of Jurassic Park 3 where a copy of a velociraptor's larynx was recreated. The institute offered legislators in Annapolis the opportunity to have themselves scanned into a computer and get busts of themselves. Miller seemed impressed with the petite bust but joked that it …
Hundreds head to Annapolis to testify for and against a package of bills that would tighten gun regulations in Maryland.
Gun control supporters and opponents descended on a hearing room in Annapolis to debate a package of bills that is likely to be as divisive as any issue during the 90-day General Assembly session. Gov. Martin O'Malley said his legislation was driven by the shootings in Newtown, CT. and more than 500 shooting deaths in Maryland last year. "We are still losing too many of our citizens to gun violence," O'Malley said. "There's no such thing in our state as a spare American." Hundreds gathered outside the State House Wednesday morning, hours before O'Malley was to testify, to rally against the proposed laws. A line of people waiting to testify stretched outside the Senate office building. More than 500 people signed up to testify even though …
Corbin Dallas Multipass
3:27 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
"Innocence projects are far less likely to scrutinize the evidence for someone given life (or a long sentence), so the probability of a successful appeal is much smaller." If that were the case, then why would, as has been stated earlier in this very thread, the number of people exonerated through the innocence project that spent time on Death Row be only 18 of 306? If they were only focusing on … more ›