Author: Richard Vatz

By Richard E. Vatz      The Maryland General Assembly adjourned with the ritual over-applauding by...

On Sunday, the Baltimore Sun wrote what they called “an apology,” but which is better described as...

“Competency to stand trial,” hundreds of years old in Anglo-Saxon criminal justice, is considered fundamental as a concept, but is unwieldy in practice.  Everyone agrees that if a person truly does not understand the charges faced and literally cannot help his counsel in defense, there is a basic unfairness inherent in the process.  

Jarrod Ramos is on trial to determine if his killing of five innocent journalists at The Capital Gazette was due to his being “not criminally responsible” in the terms of Maryland’s insanity statute. To reasonable sentient people, the slayinga and the non-fatal attacks on others present were a wholly premeditated act.  

By Richard E. Vatz There are a few characteristics necessary to doing any job well, but one might...