Maryland House of Delegates Votes To Give Driver’s Licenses and Amnesty To Illegal Aliens.

The Federal Real ID Act requires that each state establish a policy of  confirming the legal presence of each person receiving a drivers license.  Forty six states are on their way to compliance, four states, including Maryland are not. For the last few years I have been constantly asking the  Maryland MVA why they have been dragging their feet on this issue.  It seemed more important that they not offend the illegal alien population than move to tighten the license issuance procedures so as to enhance national security. 

If Maryland fails to come into compliance, Marylanders will not be able to use their Maryland licenses to get on an airplane, to enter a federal building or to use your ID to enjoy numerous other activities.  Marylanders would have to travel with their birth certificates and or passports if the State fails to comply with the federal Real ID Act.  Currently, Maryland driver’s licenses are not accepted as Id for anything from security issues or even a simple job application in states such as Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina, Oklahoma, (12 states in total) and the number is growing.   According to a study by the Shaffer Center for Public Policy, Univ. of Balt., Feb. 09,  81%  of Marylanders want a single tier auto licensing system.

The easy way to comply, is to simply require that anyone applying for a driver’s license have proof of citizenship in order to obtain a Maryland driver’s license.     The problem is that there are an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens already driving in Maryland with licenses they have been issued without proof of their legal presence.  Proponents of  the illegal alien population argue we should allow these 300,000 people who are already driving on Maryland licenses to keep their licenses and not ever have to prove their legal presence within the country. The argument is that these are people with families and jobs who would be thrown into chaos should we suddenly make it illegal for them to drive. It is also argued that those driving currently would still drive but without insurance.   In response to the first argument I believe that if you illegally purchased a license to drive, or obtained one by false pretenses, you should not be rewarded with an immunity. If you are not in the country legally but have obtained a license, why not say you have five years in which to become a legal resident.  Wouldn’t it be better to encourage compliance with our laws rather than rewarding criminal behavior?

For the last year I have been asking Secretary John D. Porcari of the Maryland Transportation Authority and Mr. John T. Kuo, Motor Vehicle Administration, Administrator,  to explain how many MVA employees have sold driver’s licenses to illegal aliens? How many licenses were sold and what happened to the licenses which were sold?  I specifically have been asking about licenses that were sold to drive school buses. I want to know how many were sold, who sold them, what happened to the employees selling them and what happened to the people who bought them?  I want to know, How many of the illegaly sold licenses to drive school buses are still out there?  Despite persistently pursuing answers to these questions I have received a run around and some nonspecific answers that I am currently following up on.  In addition to not answering the questions about the MVA employees selling driving licenses to illegal aliens, the MTA and MVA have been refusing to get on board with the Real Id Act requirements, Maryland being one of the last states to start complying with the act.

The State MVA eventually reversed its longstanding policy of dragging its feet with complying with the Real ID Act and indicated this year they were in agreement with moving forward with compliance.  Numerous delegates including myself signed onto HB-387, a bill to require legal presence be established in order to obtain a Maryland driver’s license.  Public hearings were held on the bill. On the day the bill was to be voted on in committee, a slick little move was made which gutted the idea of complying with the Federal Real ID Act through requiring proof of legal presence and instead a two tiered system was inserted into the bill which included amnesty for all those currently holding Maryland driver’s licenses who are illegal aliens.  When this amended bill made it to the floor of the House of Delegates, 63 of  the sponsors of the original legal presence Bill all offered amendments to have their names stripped off the amended bill.  This included roughly an equal number of both Democrats and Republicans.

One of  the most telling acts of the House of Delegates was their voting to reject an amendment which would have prohibited any illegal alien who was being given a federally non compliant license to drive in Maryland the motor voter information at the same time they were receiving their licenses.  Why, would we possibly want to give illegal aliens voter registration information?  In the rare instance we have a citizen who just does not have the proper documents to meet the federal requirements, yet they need to drive, they could get the non-compliant license and take care of their voter registration like everyone else who moves or changes affiliation by going to the local election office.  We do not need to be giving voter registration information to hundreds of thousands of people who will be lining up to get their Maryland driver’s licenses.  Maryland is already second in the number of fraud cases related to driver’s licenses.  Drivers license fraud cases rose 500 % between 2003 and 2007.  Nobody seems to want to know how extensive our voter fraud is, most likely because it would then need to be addressed.   If the policy arguments are not enough to get you upset about the two tiered system you should know that SB-369 will save the State money by not having to license  hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, on the other hand the two tiered system should cost the State about 30 million dollars.

If you are outraged by the actions of the Maryland House of Delegates, then you need to contact your Delegates and tell them you do not believe illegal aliens should receive non compliant licenses.  The Maryland  Senate got it right and passed SB-369, a Bill that requires all drivers prove their “lawful presence” in the U.S., meaning that they are citizens or temporary legal residents. Ask your Delegates to vote for SB-369, the Senate version of the Real ID Act. 

The first hurdle will be when the Senate Bill, SB-369 goes to the House Judiciary Committee.   You need to contact the members of that committee to let them know you want the Senate Bill, SB-369 to go to the House Floor unamended and that you do not want the House of Delegates two tiered system that grants amnesty to illegal aliens.

With your help, your voice, we can still stop this insanity and demand that those driving on our roads prove they are legally present in the country.

Someone Noticed: Elkton Crime Rate Higher Than Most Places

From Someone Noticed

Elkton’s crime rate is increasing and it is a consistent upward trend.  Beginning in 2004, the numer of serious incidents has increased each year.  (2008 data was not available.)  Another way to gauge how the community is doing is to compare it to others of similiar size and characteristics.  In our case, Elkton has a higher rate than all the places we checked.   For comparison, we though Havre de Grace, Bel Air and Aberdeen were appropriate because the size is similiar and population characteristics probably have parallels. We tossed in few more such as Newark, Easton, and Cambridge so we’d have some more benchmarks.    We were surprised to see that Elkton’s ranked higher than these other places.

Continues on Someone Noticed

CanalSide: Lastest SPCA “Whodunit” Mystery

From CanalSide

While driving past the the Cecil County SPCA this past Tuesday night at around 9:00 pm, a local woman noticed something unusual out of the corner of her eye. According to a post on Del. Mike Smigiel’s blog resident Dan Meadows’ sister witnessed at least three State Police cars with lights flashing as well as an unmarked white van with lights flashing, too, in the facility parking lot” The big question is WHAT was so important as to merit three squad cars AND a van….and not from the Cecil County Sheriff’s office but from the State Police! Isn’t the SPCA under the county’s jurisdiction? Additionally, we haven’t read or heard anything about this incident on television or in the Cecil Whig. There has been an explanation from one of the Cecil County Commissioners, who told one local resident the event was a “false burglar alarm that police and animal control officers responded to” The commissioner added that ” in the future the SPCA may consider posting such events on their website”.

Continues on CanalSide

Chespaeake City Mirror Reports on Financial Situation of Whig’s Owners

Assets include radio and television under Macquarie Southern Cross Media (MSCM), and US newspaper assets via full ownership of American Consolidated Media (ACM). After recently recording a net loss of $127.3 million over writedowns on its ill-timed acquisition of ACM, Macquarie Media’s balance sheet isn’t looking good.

Click here to go the the remainder of this piece

CanalSide: Cecil Whig Gets a Grade of F . . .

Oops We Spoke to Soon – Cecil Whig Gets a Grade of “F” As It Makes It’s Final Approach Into The Abyss of the Chesapeake

Grade: “F”, for failure to progress. On Friday we gave the beleagured little paper high marks for not publishing a biased editorial by Gene Cochrane, one of Cecil County Commissioner Robert Hodge’s BFF’s. We hoped this was a sign of change and things to come from newly appointed editor Mike Bullard. But alas, this was not to be. The snipey little report card appeared yet again in today’s print edition, although not the online version (which is a bit telling in and of itself in our opinion)

.Article Continues on CanalSide

Someone Noticed: Whig Op/Ed Piece Misses the Mark . . . What’s the Rest of the Story?

From Someone Noticed

The Cecil Whig’s op/ed section continued the serialized report card for county commissioners today, as the “citizen columnist” turned his attention to grading individual board members.  The paper’s first installment awarded the board a “generous grade of D.”  Today’s report cards, which were handed out for Commissioners Demmler, Mullin, and Tome, were predictable to anyone following the writer’s work and having a little insight into the rumors associated with Republican Party politics here.  While we are not sure about the assessment’s validity, we noted one particularly harsh appraisal that doesn’t support anything we’ve seen.  Of course, we may not have all the information the political party insiders have, but it does cause us to wonder about the reliability of the other grades.  On the assessment of Commissioner Demmler, Mr. Cochrane mentioned that she had “quiet limited life experiences and, therefore, a very limited personal background . . . .” in areas of expertise needed by the political leadership.  To that he adds something about “limited intellectual curiosity” on the issues she does not understand, combined with an “unwillingness to do the necessary homework to better understand” issues.

Article Continues on Someone Noticed

Flawed Death Penalty Bill Is Forced Through The House Judiciary Committee.

Whether you are an opponent or proponent of the Death Penalty, you should be very concerned with the mess that the legislature is making of the process surrounding this most important public policy issue.  Two years ago the Maryland Court of Appeals held that Maryland had failed to properly vet the death penalty protocols for administering  the deadly cocktail mixture used to put the condemned to death.  The Governor could have addressed this by simply having the matter sent to the AELR committee which could then hold a public hearing on the protocols .   Because he is against the death penalty, the Governor has ignored the law and allowed the moratorium to continue, through his inaction. 

As a justification for the current effort to eliminate the death penalty, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment was established last year to look at the issue. The results of the Commission hearings were not a surprise to anyone.  In fact, last year on the floor of the House of Delegates I argued we could save the State a lot of time and money because the results of the Commission were already known to everyone. I argued the Commission would find that there was racial disparity in the application of the death penalty and that it is  too costly to put people to death and that therefore the death penalty should be repealed.  The deck was stacked and as a  result the findings were a forgone conclusion.   It was a waste of  taxpayer money to go through the motions only to justify the result the majority sought.  A real, impartial investigation, with a committee that was balanced may have found some common ground on which both sides could have compromised. Instead the legislature fell into its normal behavoir of manipulating the process to assure the outcome it sought.

Similarly, when the Senate  Judicial Proceedings Committee failed to pass the current death penalty repeal bill  SB-279 out of the Committee, Senator Miller found a way to bring the bill before the Senate , even thought there were no rules that allowed such a procedure.  The move was justified by some nonspecific relation back to a similar procedure used 30 years ago. Yet, no one explained whether the rules actually allowed such a procedure 30 years ago or whether it was actually outside the rules then and thus the procedure should not be looked at as some kind of justification for allowing the procedure today.

On the Senate floor the there was a motion to send the matter back to committee which was met with a tie vote, the only missing vote was that of  Senator Andy Harris who was absent.  Senator Harris has been a advocate on behalf of keeping the death penalty and thus his absence from this critical vote to kill the death penalty was a most unfortunate bit of timing for the proponents of the death penalty. 

The plan to repeal the death penalty was quickly replaced by a plan to tighten the circumstances when the death penalty could be sought.  The end result was a plan that says the death penalty could only be given if one of three circumstances were found to exist: 

                         First, if there was DNA evidence conclusively linking the defendant to the crime.

                         Second, if there is a video tape of the murder.

                         Third, if there is a video tapped confession to the murder.

The State’s Attoney General, Doug Gansler correctly labled this bill as having been constructed in a “clumsy” way and he stated that the bill should be reworked or abandoned. (3-17-09 John Wagner and Henri Cauvin, Washington Post) The Attorney General pointed out that as written the Bill would not consider ballistics, fingerprints, multiple photographs showing a crime in progress, or a signed confession. (Id)

 The Senate President gave clear orders to the House of Delegates, change a comma in the bill he sent out of the Senate (SB-279) and the Bill dies when it comes back to the Senate.  The problem with this is that it eliminates the Constitutional mandated procedure of having two Houses participate in the process.  It eliminates the imput from the public because the amending of the repeal occured on the Senate floor after the judicial proceedings hearings had concluded on the Repeal  Bill.  There has  been and will be no public debate on the amended bill to limit the death penalty to these three scenarios and there will be no such debate unless the dictates of Senator Miller and subsequently the Governor are rejected by the House leadership.  Unfortunately, the House leadership was all too willing to surrender House independence.  The House of Delegates has been relegated to nothing more than a rubber stamp of the Senate and tool of the Executive Branch  because of  the House leadership’s willingness to be subjugated to that role.

When the House Judiciary Committee addressed the Senate Bill last week (the House Repeal Bill is being scrapped so as not to interfere with the Senate Bill and Senator Miller’s dictates to the House) Governor O’Malley came before us in the Judiciary Committee to also tell us he wanted the Senate Bill to come out of the House Judiciary Committee unamended. When I questioned the Governor about the wisdom of leaving the bill untouched even though it has flaws, O’Malley answered that the question “might be better directed to the President of the Senate”.  (Liam Farell, Capital Gazette, 3-18-09)

I then went on to point out to a few of the outrageous scenarios we will face if the bill goes through unamended.  First there is the scenario where an undercover police officer is wearing an audio tape wire, he or she enters a room with a drug dealer to make a purchase, the drug dealer recognizes the officer and says on the tape “You are a cop, I recognize you! ” “You are dead, I’m going to shoot you!”  On the tape you hear the gun shot, you hear the officer yell.  The police rush in and catch the murderer with the smoking gun in their hand and absent the DNA evidence, or a video recording of the murder or confession, the killer of the Officer would not face the death penalty. Yet, the robber who enters the 7-11 and is caught on video shooting the store clerk who dies, does face the death penalty.

I then pointed out to the Governor a lady who was sitting behind him, Mrs Capano, and explained how her son who was in a Western Maryland prison was strangled by his cell mate who had previously tried to strangle another cell mate and was in serving a life sentence for sex offenses.  I asked what we were supposed to do with those who continue to kill while in prison, whether it be guards or other inmates.  I never did get an answer from the Governor on those questions because he had to get up and leave in the middle of my questions.

The last and perhaps one of  the biggest problems with the current bill is that it leaves contract killing as the prefered method of murder in Maryland.  After all, you are not likely to leave DNA evidence if you are paying someone else to do the dirty deed.  You are not likely to be on  a video recording if you sent someone else and I would think that when it becomes known that the only way the police can get the death penalty is to get your confession on tape, most defendants will stop talking.

In committee last friday we offered numerous amendments to try to address some of the concerns that have been raised by both Democrats and Republicans.  As the Governor and the Senate President requested there were no amendments to SB-279.  The arguments will continue this week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday when the House addresses SB-279 when it comes to the House Floor. Those who have an interest in the death penalty or in learning what is wrong with how government operates in Annapolis may want to listen in to the hearings.  You can either listen live or later by going to the State Legislative Web Site.

CanalSide: We Forgot The Whip Cream & Cherry on Top!

We Forgot the Whipped Cream & Cherry on top….

But someone just sent it to us in the form of an anonymous comment, so we are adding it to our triple scoop now!

“Hey where is Cochrane’s column in the Whig today? I want to see those grades he promised last week.

Most of it I’d had already figured out. He would grade Hodge with an A+ or something in that range. As for those underachievers (from Whig’s perspective), Mullins and Demmler, he’d give them something like a D. What I didn’t know what what he might give Lockhart. He might put Tome in that C- category or even a D with the other two. Wasn’t sure about what he’d say about Tome. It could’ve gone either way, depending on whether Tome had disagreed with him and Hodge on something.

Continues on CanalSide

CanalSide: TGIF! Today’s Feature in a Three Layer Scoop

From CanalSide

We noticed that today’s Cecil Whig did NOT feature an anticipated “report card on Commissioners” article by Gene Cochrane, local curmudgeon turned amateur reporter. We like that this did not appear in today’s paper. We think this is an editorially sound decision. We will call this vanilla.

Second Layer: Chocolate: Chocolate is dark. It’s one of those flavors people either like or they hate. It’s a polarizing type of flavor.

Apparently the SPCA task force meetings are moving forward as planned. The group has already met at least twice. So far their agenda reportedly has been to look at the ordinances and make recommendations. This is a good thing. Our problem is, these meetings were intended to be conducted “independently” but a little bird has told us that Commissioner Hodge is showing up at the meetings. Why is this we wonder? Is he there as a messenger to impart wisdom? Or as a liason to the SPCA board? Why can’t he wait for the results? After all, these people are professionals, right? They don’t need their hand held. We’re not sure this constitutes an “independent” investigation.

Continues on CanalSide: 

State Police Withdraw Their Bill To Register Ammunition Purchasers.

HB-1446 is a bill put in at the request of the Maryland State Police which would have required persons engaged in the business of selling ammunition to maintain specified records of sales of ammunition by requiring a person who purchases ammunition to present identification.  The bill would also have required the Secretary of State Police to adopt specified regulations establishing a civil penalty for a violation of  the Act.

The State Police have been taking a beating recently in the legislature for a number of reasons.  First the revelations of their actions in spying on citizens who were merely exercising their Constitutional right to assembly or free speech. HB – 311 seeks to  address this behavior and to guarantee that such actions do not occur again.   At the hearing on HB-311 I asked the State Police, ”What happened to the Officer who was in charge of the spying operations.” I was told he resigned in the summer of 2008.  When I asked, “ Where is he now?”  I was told he was promoted to “Chief Of Operations.”  I pointed out that it was somewhat disingenuous of the State Police to claim they wanted to change their behavoir but in fact had promoted the person in charge of the spying operations. 

The next, faux paus, for the State Police was the position they took on HB296 and HB302, two domestic violence bills which seek to confiscate all firearms from anyone accused of  domestic violence.  In the case of  HB-302 the firearms confiscation can occur even before the respondent has had an opportunity to appear in court and defend himself . There were numerous other problems with these bills, which indicated, that the bills were more about seizing firearms than about protecting abused spouses. 

Nothing made this more clear than the position taken by the Maryland State Police Union when they approached the Judiciary Committee and asked for a “carve out” for police officers.  A “carve out” would have meant that  police officer’s spouses who were given temporary or permanent protective orders would not be entitled to the same protections that all other battered spouses, not married to police officers, were entitled to.  It was a very big mistake for the State Police to ask that they be allowed to keep their guns but that anyone else accused of the same thing have theirs taken.  Needless to say it did not go well in the committee.  As I pointed out in the committee, if these bills were about protecting  battered women then we would be protecting all battered women, not just those who did not happen to be married to police officers.   Even after getting thrashed at the hearing in committee, the State Police attempted to offer a similar amendment on the floor of the House.  I made the same impassioned arguments against their amendment for a “carve out” on the floor and the amendment was defeated overwhelmingly.

Pro Second Amendment legislators spent two days argueing against many of the anti-second amendment bills.  I was the floor leader for the Republicans during the debates and we showed that we would not go quietly into that dark night.  We knew we would eventually lose because we just do not have the votes.  Yet, we did excert our pound of flesh.  It was, in part,  this showing of  a willingness to fight, despite the fact that we did not have the numbers to win, which led to the State Police determining it was not worth going through a fight over a very bad bill such as HB-1446.

HB-1446 would have forced Marylanders to go out of State to purchase their ammunition.  People from out of State who may be coming here to hunt would buy their ammo out of State before coming to Maryland to hunt.  Why would anyone unnecessarily subject themselves to the intrusive questions about what caliber and what amount of ammo they were purchasing?   Not only would the State lose tax revenue that comes from the sale of  ammo and other things bought at the time you are buying your ammo, you also loose the money which comes from the sales which is dedicated to purchasing and preserving parkland under the Pittman-Robinson act.   Why would Maryland want to chase these people and tax dollars away?

 A second problem was that arguably this bill would have only applied to license firearms dealers and since you don’t have to be a licensed firearms dealer to sell ammunition this bill would only adversely effect the licensed firearms dealers and not others selling ammunition.  The State Police would have had the right to enter the firearms dealer’s place of buisness and check their ammunition sales logs. Clearly this would have had a chilling effect on the customers wishing to purchase ammunition.   Just imagine if we were to take the name, address and phone number of everyone who orders or buys alcohole. After all, some people will drink and drive or they are on probation and should not have any alcohole.  I believe most people would find this overly intrusive and to apply it to firearms or ammunition purchases should be seen as  no less intrusive.  The O’Malley administration justifys this intrusiveness because it results in the sale of less firearms and ammunition in the State of Maryland. The administration sees this as being a good thing. It does not matter that legitimate tax paying businesses would be run out of the State or that tax revenue would be lost along with the money being generated to purchase parklands. 

Luckily, for now the State Police realized that there would be a very hard fight against this bill and there would be further damage to their reputation and perhaps they would be hurt on other bills which they may need.  If there is a lesson to be learned it is that even when you know you are going to lose a battle, you fight it and perhaps down the road someone else decides it is not worth the time and effort it will take to fight you on some other battle. 

For now the withdraw of HB-1446 should be seen as not only a victory for second amendment supporters but also for the buisness community and tourism in Maryland.  

The lesson learned here was that even if we do not win a fight on the floor, such as with the two days of domestic violence bills and wanting to allow battered women to obtain permits to carry, we can still win by defeating bad bills that will highlight the other negative problems associated with a sponsor of the bad bill being fought.

CanalSide: “Citizens Want Clean Journalism, Fresh Start”

From CanalSide

A Call For Change : Citizens Want Clean Journalism, Fresh Start It’s no secret that the Cecil Whig has lost a lot of readership over the past few years. CanalSide has heard plenty of folks say they refuse to buy or read the paper due to their perception of biased reporting. Which is one of the very reasons this humble blog has survived. When the Whig was not interested in running certain items relating to Chesapeake City we were only too happy to pick up the slack. People liked it. They really LIKED it. So now that heads have rolled at the local daily, and a new editor is at the helm, many locals are hoping for a fresh new start and a paper they can enjoy with their morning coffee, no matter which side of the political fence they live on. They would LOVE to have a shiny new paper with interesting local news. They would love to have a paper that is for all the people, not just half of them. No more bias. No more political favors. No more exclusion of certain politicians based on the good ole boy network. No more slant on reality. No more coverups. In short, people want old school journalism. This can only be beneficial to both the Citizens of Cecil County AND to the paper. It’s a win-win no-brainer.

Continues on CanalSide

HB 861:Operating on Animals without a License UPDATE!

HB 861: Operating on Animals without a Veterinary License, passed on second reader in the House of Delegates yesterday which means it is almost out of the House and will cross over to the Senate to be voted on.

The bill punishes those who operate on animals without a veterinary license on a first offense with a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding a year or both.  For a second or subsequent offense, a fine not exceeding $6,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

CanalSide: Heads Roll at the Cecil Whig

From CanalSide:

Heads Roll at the Cecil Whig

As daily newspapers nationally are dropping like flies, “so too also” (sorry – I have to get every last measure of humor from Palin-speak) are many long-time employees of the Cecil Whig in Elkton, Cecil County Maryland. You may recall a few months back the exit stage-south of former publisher Jeff Mezzatesta

Story Continues on CanalSide

Someone Noticed: Whig Fair and Balanced?

Someone Noticed —-

Fair and Balanced?  Citizen Journalist Grades County Commissioners 

An opinion piece in Friday’s Whig awarded the “Rip Van Winkle” board of county commissioners a “generous D” for their performance.  Next week, we are told we’ll see a continuation of the grading as each of the commissioners is assessed individually.  The last time the Whig scored elected officials was when the daily worried about which Cecil County politician was going to receive credit for resolving the SPCA problem.  It was in the emerging days of the animal abuse allegations when the op/ed writers at the paper advanced concerns to a level that never occurred to us, worrying about which official would receive credit for a successful intervention in a potentially damaging situation.  In that premature appraisal, as the county commissioners stumbled through the emotionally charged issue, the “community columnist” criticized Commissioners Demmler and Mullin, while assuring readers that Commissioner Hodge was capable of handling the still growing entanglement.

This matter of newspapers turning to citizen journalists, community columnists or whatever you want to call them is a national trend.  In this competitive era when corporate owners cut back on content produced by independent journalism professionals, citizen journalists provide legacy media with original local copy, which can be valuable to subscribers.  While there is merit in quality editorial content, which helps squeeze out the stale syndicated columns, there are a few things that should be kept in mind.

article continues on Someone Noticed

WBAL TV: Delegate Smigiel Offers Comments on Gun Control Bill

From WBAL TV

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A domestic violence bill that’s one of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s legislative priorities came under fire Thursday by those who support the Second Amendment right to bear arms.   The bill would take guns away from people who are the target of a protective order.

 In Maryland, domestic abuse suspects get to keep their guns. Victim advocates have fought for years to strengthen the state’s protective order laws while the number of horrendous cases pile up.

The cases include that of Franceea Batts, of Baltimore, who was killed by gunfire two days after unsuccessfully asking a judge to take away her husband’s gun; Gail Pumphrey, whose three children were shot to death Thanksgiving Day by their father during a custody handoff in Montgomery County; and Lisa Spicknall, whose two children were shot to death by their father, Richard Spicknall. Lisa Spicknall obtained a protective order, but the father was allowed to obtain a firearm.

The State House is just days away from voting on a bill introduced by O’Malley that requires anyone under a protective order — even a temporary one — to surrender all firearms, including rifles.

Judges in Maryland are allowed to order firearms be removed after a court hearing and final protection order is issued, but the law does not require it.

Those in support of the right to bear arms rose Thursday in opposition.

Article Continues on WBAL TV

Someone Noticed: Elkton Administration Recommends Tax Rate That Will Produce an additional $1/2-million in Taxes

From Someone Noticed

About the time spring arrives on the Chesapeake, elected officials across the county sharpen their pencils as they begin figuring out the tax levy that will be required for their jurisdictions.  In the case of Elkton, that discussion was underway this afternoon when the political leadership examined budget requests from two departments and discussed the constant yield rate.

Here is the concept behind the constant yield rate.  Since Maryland reassesses the value of properties on an ongoing basis, homeowners would see an increase in the amount of taxes they pay unless the rate was reduced to correspond with the percentage of increase.  Thus each year the state calculates the rate that would approximatley yield the same amount of revenue.  If the elected officials desire to have a rate that is higher than the constant yield, the jurisdiction must meet certain requirements such as advertising the increase and holding a public hearing.  All of that is designed to make sure citizens are informed of the revenue increase.

Elkton’s officials were told that the current Elkton tax rate is .504 per $100 and that the state calculated that the rate that would yield approximtely the same amount of money next year is .464 per $100.   A discussion ensued about this and it was reported that the town would receive almost a half-million dollars in additional revenue by taking the higher rate.  That comes about because of the increases in property tax assessments.

Article continues on Someone Noticed

Someone Noticed: Elkton Should Let Citizens Know What They’re Discussing at Workshops

From Someone Noticed

The town’s policital leadership has advised that it will hold a workshop on March 11 at 4:00 p.m. The announcement does not indicate the items that are going to discussed at the meeting. This practice of not listing the important items the board is going to examine, contrasts with the norms of other area local governments. For example, we just surfed over to the Cecil County and Chesapeake City government sites. Both of those local entities manage to publish the items they are considering. This is a helpful practice for good government since it allows citizens to participate in the process and stay informed.

We’ve mentioned this before, when we wrote a piece called a Tale of Two Towns. We strongly encourage the town to consider this opportunity to help keep citizens informed. It is at these meetings that the commissioners typically get the details on proposals, ask questions, and decide how they’re going to vote on an issue. Unless something most extraordinary happens, they will simply cast their vote at the monthly meeting.

Article continues on Someone Noticed

Your Second Amendment Rights Are Under A Full Fledged Attack By The O’Malley Administration!

The Executive branch of government and its agencies have proposed several bills which attack Maryland citizens who own, possess or use firearms. I have already written about the domestic violence bills, HB-296 and HB-302 and why it is clear that these bills are more about grabbing guns than protecting battered spouses.  (See below, Feb. 26 2009 article, “The Governor’s Domestic Violence Bill Shown To Be Nothing More Than A Gun Ban.” )  In that Article I also wrote about Del. McConkey’s bill, HB-359, which would allow women who were granted domestic violence orders to be granted “Permits to Carry”, should they chose to apply for one.  Despite Democrats and Republicans joining together to refuse to vote the bill “unfavorable” as Chairman Vallerio requested, the Chairman then refused to put the bill up for a favorable vote and instead held it back so he could amend the bill to merely suggest that the State Police consider that a protective order has been issued. Which is what they already do. So the bill has been amended to do nothing and will most likely die in the Senate.  This is just one more instance of the rules not being adhered to when they do not fit into the plans of the Majority.

I also drafted and had Delegate McComas present an amendment to the domestic violence bills that would require the State Police to issue a “Permit to Carry” to persons “under the protection of  a protective order.”  This amendment like numerous other reasonable amendments to  the domestic violence bills were summarily rejected along partisan lines.  (Except for Delegate Kevin Kelly  who is a consistent ardent supporter of Second Amendment rights)

It was very clear and in fact I had been told that it had “come down from on high” that the Governor’s domestic violence bills (ie. gun grabbing bills) would get out with out any material amendments.   So, no matter how powerful or enlightening the arguments on behalf of the numerous amendments were, the result was preordained to be the same.  The Chairman would “motion for an unfavorable”, then the same partisan hands would be raised to kill each amendment.  Only one, non material change was entertained which was to add the requirement of ”safe” transportation of any confiscated firearms.  The problem is that the word “safe” can be interpreted to mean the clip is removed and any rounds in the chamber removed so as to render the firearm “safe from firing”.  Proponents of  the amendments wanted to guarantee “safe transportation of the weapons” in order to preserve their value.  Some firearms can be worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars and therefore an owner does not want them thrown into a box with other firearms to be bounced around, scarred and nicked up, thus losing value.  For a list of some of the other reasonable but rejected amendments to the domestic violence bills, see the article,  “Reasonable But Rejected Amendments To The Governor’s Domestic Violence Bills”.  (above)

In it’s blind rush to grab up up guns the O’Malley administration may actually be doing a disservice to  the cause of protecting women from domestic violence.  The unintended consequence of forcing judges to order the firearms taken from anyone who has a domestic violence order issued against them may just be that there are fewer domestic violence orders issued.  Two different scenarios come immediately to mind.  The first scenario which is a possible result of  taking away judicial discretion is that judges in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore may be more hesitant to grant a domestic violence order if they would then be forced to take away the firearms from a fellow goose, duck, or deer hunter.  The judge, who has to stand for reelection does not want to be explaining to all the guys at the ducks unlimited or VFW why “Cooter won’t be using his duck blind or deer stand this year”.  

Likewise, many domestic violence orders result from aggrements reached by the parties. The husband may say fine I will get out of the house, stay away from you, and pay some support until we get a settlement agreement and or divorce agreement worked out, in exchange I want the corvette, my fishing gear, tools and guns.  Now the husband would not be able to have his guns and would not be able to shoot, hunt or collect again.  It is quite possible that many who would have previously entered into voluntary orders will not do so under the mandatory changes being proposed by the Governor’s bills.

Another Bill which will have unintended negative consequences for the State of Maryland is HB-1446.  This bill, proposed by the Maryland State Police, would require firearms dealers in Maryland to begin collecting personal information from any persons who purchase ammunition from the dealers.  Setting aside for the moment, the obvious intrusive nature of such a requirement and the chilling effect it would have upon people willing to purchase ammunition in the State of Maryland. Forcing intrusive over burdensome regulations upon persons who would purchase ammunition will only serve to force Maryland to lose millions if not tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue and taxes. Marylanders and those who come from out of state purchase firearms, ammunition targets, clothes and a number of other items when shooting or hunting in Maryland.  Yet, when just about any area of Maryland is within 40 miles of another State, why should anyone subject themselves to the unnecessary intrusiveness of the proposals in HB-1446?   Most sportsman, like myself will simply go to Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia or West Virginia to purchase ammunition or we will buy it on line or through the mail rather than subject ourselves to the over intrusive questioning of the State. 

One interesting point which seems to indicate the sponsors of HB-1466 did not really put much thought into the bill is that Maryland does not require one to be a licensed firearms dealer to sell ammunition. In fact, anyone without a criminal record can go buy ammunition and begin selling it if they so choose.  If this bill were to pass they could still do so and only the licensed firearms dealers would be required to obtain the intrusive information from purchasers.

Before Maryland goes down this road perhaps the unintended consequences of these actions can be objectively reviewed. In these pressing economic times it is not beneficial to chase any business across state lines.  Before we incorporate all these new provisions in order to provide a perceived amount of safety we coud ask at what cost to our freedom do we enact these laws?  I am not as concerned about being safe as I am about being free.

Your help is needed and appreciated. Please contact your legislator by E-mail to tell them how you feel about these new bills and forward a copy of you correspondance to your legislator to our office and I will follow up with them.

Yours in Public Service,

Delegate Michael D. Smigiel,  Sr.

Someone Noticed: “Closed Doors Meetings Don’t Go Unnoticed in Kent County”

From Someone Noticed –

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Closed Door Meetings Don’t Go Unnoticed In Kent County

This week we found exactly the type of reporting that creates a value proposition for subscribers as the Kent County News, an excellent product, covers its beat as well as any small town paper we know about.  Three times since its last edition the county commissioners transacted public business behind closed doors, the weekly reported.  The journalism pros covering the local government beat took time to inform readers of the closure and mention with as much detail as possible the reasons for the executive sessions.  It was also noted that written statements justifying the closure were distributed.

This routine news story is remarkable in several ways.  First a closed door meeting in Kent will not go unnoticed for it will get ink in this community newspaper.  To that we might add, we’ve never seen that paper write a piece justifying the closing of a meeting by officials. We suspect there is enough professional staff in local government to help out with that task, while the professional journalists look out for the broader public interest, helping to make sure elected officials adhere to a few basic state-mandated guidelines.  (It’s hard to report on the people’s business when it is done behind closed doors.)  Third, it is remarkable that officials on the Upper Shore County pass out a written explanation to the public.  We suspect that occurs because of challenges the Kent County News routinely makes with the State Open Meeting Board.

Article Continues on Someone Noticed

ABC2News: Task Force Appointed to Study Cecil County SPCA Claims

From ABC 2 News —-

Task Force Appointed to Study Cecil County SPCA Claims

The task force appointed to study the claims of animal abuse against the Cecil County SPCA met for the first time Wednesday night.

The 13 member panel appointed by the county commission is charged with making recommendations to improve animal control services that protect the public’s health and safety.

The group will look at who would be the best provider of animal control services, draft performance standards, best practices and how they can be monitored.

“I feel good about this task force,” said Cecil County Commissioner Robert Hodge, “I really want this problem to be solved.”

A final report is due back to the Cecil County Commission by May, 15th.

Meanwhile the county also issued a request for proposal for other companies to bid on animal control services in the county.  Those bids are due back by the end of this month.  Who is chosen to run the SPCA in Cecil County will depend heavily on the findings of the task force and outcome of two ongoing but separate investigations by the Maryland State Police and the State Veterinary Board.

Article Continues on ABC 2 News

Someone Noticed: Elkton Commissioners Get Told Where Taxes Come From

From Someone Noticed

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Commissioners Hear From Citizens About Where Taxes Come From at Town Meeting

In these demanding times when municipal, state, and federal officials need to worry, more than ever, about tight budgets and the financial burdens placed on taxpayers, a discussion about several expenditures involving the town were on the minds of at least one elected official and two citizens at the Elkton town meeting this evening.

Article continues on Someone Noticed

CanalSide: CCSPCA Advisory Group to Meet Tonight [Wed]

From CanalSide

Cecil SPCA Advisory Committee Work Study Group to Meet Tonight at County Bldg.

At last! The CCSPCA “Work Study Group” is to meet this evening to begin discussions on what changes and improvements can be made to animal control operations at the shelter. The meeting will be held this evening at the County Administration Building, 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Elkton at 6:30 pm. The selected members are reported to be “non-biased” however some residents have expressed their concern that the list (minus Dr. Carletti’s name) was allegedly given directly to Mr Hodge by Nancy Schwerzler, president of the SPCA board. We will provide new updates as we learn of them.

1. DIDRA, Sandra 2000 Section 209 County Code Revision Committee Rising Sun
2. DURBOROW, Tina Educator Pennsylvania
3. FEEHLEY, William Certified Public Accountant Elkton -
4. GUTMAN, Deane Kennel Operator Port Deposit
5. HUBBARD, Marian Service Dog Trainer Elk Neck -
6. ISENBERG, Howard Not for Profit Exec Director Delaware -
7. McROBERTS, Rayma Certified Public Accountant Havre de Grace, MD
8. NEDDO, Chris Horse Industry Hack’s Point
9. PULLEN, Dr. Robin Veterinarian Chesapeake City
10. RATLIFF, Nicky Animal Control Manager Carroll County, MD
11. REYNOLDS, Belinda Vet Tech Chesapeake City ~
12. SUAREZ, Ginny Dupont, Animal Rescue Operator Chesapeake City
13. CARLETTI, Dr. Mindy, Cecil County Veterinarian

Notes: All but Dr. Carletti were named by Hodge. Hodge allegedly tried to exclude Dr. Carletti from being a part of this group stating that her “trap, neuter and return program” for feral cats, was a “conflict of interests”. Other commissioners did not agree.