APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS STATE GUN LICENSING LAW: A federal appeals court upheld Maryland’s decade-old handgun licensing law Friday, saying that since it requires that the government issue a license to any law-abiding person, it does not infringe on the Second Amendment. The majority of the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from gun-rights groups that the state’s handgun qualification license law, or HQL statute, infringes on the Second Amendment because it delays a person’s right to get a gun. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND CASES SHED LIGHT ON PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY IN GUN CRIMES: There have been multimillion-dollar lawsuits against gun manufacturers and marches that have drawn hundreds of thousands to Washington calling for lawmakers to take action against violence. For change, Melissa Willey looked closer to home. Her 16-year-old daughter Jaelynn was killed in 2018 in a Southern Maryland high school by a former boyfriend, 17, using his father’s gun. Willey helped pass Jaelynn’s Law last year, which penalizes gun owners who fail to secure firearms that then fall into the hands of minors. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
BLUEPRINT FOR EDUCATION CHANGES BEGIN TAKING HOLD: Parents may barely have heard of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, but the expansive changes to public education are already shaping their children’s lives in school. Parents are seeing more spots available in public prekindergarten, putting thousands of dollars back in their pockets. Their children’s teachers are better paid. They soon may see class sizes rise or fall dramatically, depending on where their kids go to school. And their high schoolers are being held to a higher standard, but have more opportunities to take college-level classes and pursue careers. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.
CALIFORNIA RULING COULD IMPACT MARYLAND ‘KIDS CODE:’ Maryland is one of two states, with California, to pass a so-called Kids Code law — legislation aimed at providing privacy and other protections to children using online platforms. But a federal appeals court’s decision last week to uphold much of a lower court’s injunction of the California law – on which Maryland’s law is based – is raising new fears about the vulnerability of the Maryland law to court challenge. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
PRISON STAFF SHORTAGES CONTINUE TO FESTER: Though Maryland’s prison system has worked to reinforce its facilities over the past two years, staffing shortages throughout the state are endangering inmates and employees, according to the correctional officers’ union. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND SCHOOLS WRESTLE WITH LIMITING STUDENT CELLPHONE USE: As students head back to school in Maryland, districts are wrestling with how to limit cellphone use in hopes of keeping students focused in the classroom and reducing their dependence on the devices, which experts say can negatively impact their mental health. Kiersten Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
SUMMER NUTRITION PROGRAM REACHES 43,000 MORE KIDS THAN EXPECTED: A new summer nutrition program that one advocate called a “game-changer” reached 586,734 children this summer, 43,000 more than state officials had expected, according to recent numbers from the Maryland Department of Human Services. But officials said there is still time to sign up for the program, and were encouraging families to do so before the Aug. 31 deadline, in order to get $120 per child for grocery assistance. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
UMD JOINS QUALIFIED REFUGEE PROGRAM: The University of Maryland, College Park joined a new national program this year that allows colleges and universities to privately sponsor and resettle academically qualified refugee students. UMD is one of 17 higher education institutions across the country to enroll refugee students in Welcome Corps on Campus, which launched last July. Matt Hubbard/The Baltimore Sun.
AFTER ALSOBROOKS SHINING DNC MOMENT, NOW COMES THE HARD PART: Dressed in suffragette white, Angela D. Alsobrooks strode off the Democratic National Convention stage this week after the most important speech of her political career — straight into a bear hug from Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, her longtime mentor and a Maryland political legend. Before a national audience, Alsobrooks had firmly established her ties to Vice President Kamala Harris — another mentor — and she leaves the convention with fresh momentum in a tight Senate race against former Gov. Larry Hogan that could determine which party controls the agenda. Erin Cox and Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS SEEN AS A WINNING ISSUE FOR MARYLAND DEMS: Democratic Party candidates and officials see reproductive rights as a defining – and winning – issue for them in the fall campaign. “When abortion is on the ballot, we win,” Mini Timmaraju, a Maryland DNC delegate and president of Reproductive Freedom For All, told the convention Wednesday night. Marylanders this fall will vote on the Maryland Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, also known as Question 1, which would add abortion protections to the state constitution. Taylor Nichols of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
WITH CHILD VICTIMS ACT CHALLENGED, B’MORE MAN ALLEGES ABUSE: It took decades — and overcoming substance use disorder — for Thomas Finnerty to fully face the abuse he endured as a child. It was when his own sons began approaching the age at which he was molested that Finnerty felt compelled to act. In the early 2000s, Finnerty reported John Banko, a priest, to the Archdiocese of Baltimore and subsequently testified against him in a criminal case. But he had no legal recourse himself because the statute of limitations had expired. Finnerty is making his story public to bring attention to the 2023 law that allowed him to file suit many decades later. That law now faces a constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court of Maryland. Oral arguments are set for Sept. 10. Darcy Costello and Alex Mann/The Baltimore Sun.
MFUME LOOKS TO EXPAND BILL TO PROTECT STUDENT ATHLETES: U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume is exploring the expansion of a bill that would protect college athletes to include high school players in the wake of the death of a Franklin High School football player this month. Leslie Noble, a 16-year-old junior guard on Franklin’s varsity football team, died Aug. 14 after collapsing during a practice. First responders were called to the high school’s field in Reisterstown for a suspected case of heatstroke. Emily Opilo and Dana Munro/The Baltimore Sun.
BA CO POLICE PANEL HOLDS OFFICER ACCOUNTABLE ON MUNDANE VIOLATIONS: When Maryland lawmakers passed legislation three years ago giving communities greater authority to punish police officers for misconduct, high-profile cases of violence and racial discrimination loomed large. But so far, Baltimore County law enforcement officers have gotten in trouble for more mundane missteps, such as causing a collision after failing to put their car in park. Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.
FORMER HOGAN STAFFER SEEKS SEAT ON ANNAPOLIS COUNCIL: A member of former Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration recently launched a campaign to represent Ward 1 on the Annapolis City Council. Ron Gunzburger, a Democrat, kicked off his campaign Wednesday to replace Ward 1 alderwoman, Elly Tierney, a Democrat, who is moving to Massachusetts. In addition to running for Tierney’s seat, he is vying to serve out the remaining 14 months of Tierney’s term. Gunzburger has lived in Annapolis for five and half years. Megan Loock/The Baltimore Sun.
