Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
In Maryland, and throughout the county, drunk driving is one of the most publicized crimes in the entire justice system. Not only is drunk driving the most common crime in the country according to the bureau of justice statistics arrest data, but drunk driving also affects the widest range of people. Drink driving defendants come from all ages and backgrounds, with some being multiple convicted criminals and others being first time offenders. Drunk driving also affects a wide range of victims, including children. Each year, powerful and well funded lobby groups pour millions of dollars into establishing comprehensive drunk driving educational programs in our schools, and educational commercials on television and radio. These lobby groups also influence state and federal lawmakers to pursue and maintain strict drunk driving laws, and are many times successful in influencing these lawmakers. Recently some of this attention has Maryland drunk driving laws in the news as well.
Maryland drunk driving laws have recently been called into question for being too lenient relative to other states in the country. A closer look at the DUI laws in other states reveals that this criticism does not appear to be a reasonable one. Maryland currently has the 26th strictest drunk driving laws in the country according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). While this statistic puts Maryland in the middle of the pack in terms of strictness, these numbers can be misleading. Although Maryland may not have as strict a drunk driving policy as Utah, which enforces a 2 day minimum mandatory jail sentence for a first DUI, by no means is Maryland a lenient state when it comes to drunk driving.
Continue reading →
The recent movement to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland has been gaining steam each year, and the state legislature is slowly moving toward joining 17 other states and Washington D.C. as medical marijuana states. Although there is no medical marijuana bill currently being debated, the Maryland legislature is trending in the medical marijuana direction, as evidenced by recent bills that have modified state marijuana laws. Just last year, the Maryland governor signed off on a law that effectively decriminalizes marijuana use provided that the accused can produce a valid note from a licensed medical doctor that indicates a medical necessity for the drug. In addition, the Maryland legislature passed a law that will lower the maximum penalty for simple possession of marijuana from 1 year in jail to 90 days in jail. On the other hand, medical marijuana is still not legal in Maryland, and regardless of where the state legislature is trending, thousands of Marylanders are still being arrested for possession of the drug each year. 
Washington D.C. currently has tougher marijuana laws than Maryland and Virginia but that may change if D.C. mayor Vincent Gray can sway district officials in the coming months. The mayor has publically stated that the D.C. government will focus on implementing their medical marijuana program, but should not ignore the opportunity to make policy changes for recreational marijuana users. Washington’s medical marijuana law was approved in 2010 and allows sanctioned marijuana dispensaries to grow and distribute to drug to patients with a medical marijuana prescription. The city’s medical marijuana program has struggled to gain support from the community as a whole, and changing this perception appears to be the mayor’s main focus. But decriminalization of marijuana is still on the government’s radar, and the policy changes that the mayor is speaking of would not necessarily mean legalizing recreational use of marijuana. Rather the first step would be to decriminalize the drug, making simple possession of marijuana punishable only by a civil fine, and not by a term of incarceration as the law currently provides.
We have all heard of the term drunk driving, as DUI is one of the most common crimes in Maryland. In fact, DUI is one of the most common crimes in the entire country, as police make nearly 1.5 million DUI arrests per year in America. But what about drugged driving? Driving while under the influence of a drug such as marijuana is technically illegal in Maryland, but under Maryland law there are no definitive drug testing procedures for DUI. Under Maryland law you can be convicted of DWI with a blood alcohol concentration of .07 to .08, and for DUI with a blood alcohol concentration over .08. While these standardized numbers are somewhat arbitrary because everyone feels the effects of alcohol in different ways, the standardized numbers do provide at least the image of consistency and uniformity in DUI prosecutions. On the other hand, Maryland law does not indicate specific levels of drug concentration in the blood that would define driving while under the influence of drugs. If a police officer suspects someone is driving under the influence of drugs and not alcohol the officer can request the suspect to submit to a drug test. The question has been and will continue to be- what exactly do the results of a drug test tell us with respect to DWI?
The Maryland Legislature recently passed a bill that will lower the maximum penalty for possession of marijuana from 1 year in jail to 90 days in jail. Maximum fines for marijuana possession will also drop from $1000 to $500. The bill was signed into law by Governor O’Malley and will go into effect in October of 2012. The Maryland marijuana bill only applies to simple possession of less than 10 grams of the plant, a compromise between the two legislative chambers. The Maryland Senate wanted the new bill to apply to possession of any amount less than 14 grams of marijuana, or one half ounce, but the Maryland House wanted reduced punishments only for less than 7 grams, or one quarter ounce of marijuana. The Maryland law makers eventually agreed on the 10 gram limit, and the bill easily passed both chambers by a vote of 41-5 in the Senate, and 92-31 in the House.
Recently three school buses were involved in a car accident in Prince Georges County, Maryland where upwards of 25 students were injured. And just last week, a central Florida community was rocked by the news that 9 year old student was killed in a school bus accident, along with 15 other students being injured in the crash. These tragic accidents appear to be showing up in the news more frequently, which begs parents and lawmakers to question whether Maryland school buses are actually safe and what the legislature could do to make them safer.
Crime victims in Baltimore County are now able to file police reports online, instead of reporting the crime to an officer in person. Baltimore County police say the online system will have various benefits for victims of minor crimes and for the police department. Crime victims will be able to quickly generate reports for incidents such as theft and destruction of property, which insurance companies typically require before a claim can be filed. The Baltimore County police will also be able to conserve resources by not dispatching officers to minor crime scenes. Other reports that may now be filed online in Baltimore County include hit and run car accidents, lost property, and abandoned motor vehicles.
Recently a controversial Maryland gun law was declared unconstitutional in federal court. The decision left gun supporters and opponents alike arguing over the possible impacts on violent crime such as robbery, burglary, and even murder. The law required all Maryland residents to prove a “good and substantial reason” to be able to legally carry a handgun outside of the home in order to be granted a gun permit. The lawsuit began when a Baltimore man sued the state of Maryland in federal civil court after his application to renew his handgun carry permit was denied. The Baltimore man was joined in the lawsuit as plaintiff by the Second Amendment Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the right to bear arms. The plaintiffs prevailed, and provided the case is not successfully appealed, the Maryland legislature must modify this gun law. 
A federal judge has found a controversial Maryland gun law unconstitutional pursuant to a recent ruling. The key issue of the handgun law is the section that requires Maryland residents to show a “good and substantial reason” to carry a gun outside of their home in order to receive a permit from the state. A civil lawsuit challenging the firearm law was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and judge Benson Everett Legg presided over the case. The plaintiffs consisted of multiple parties including the Second Amendment Foundation, a non-profit organization which promotes gun possession and ownership rights, and a Baltimore County resident.
Each year thousands of defendants are arrested in Maryland for possession of marijuana and other drugs such as cocaine and and prescription pills. The costs of enforcing Maryland marijuana laws and other drug laws were revealed in part one of this post. In part two we will discuss the possible positive effects of decriminalizing marijuana in Maryland.