Lost On The Shore

Change needed in Annapolis

The hits just keep on coming for the Maryland State Police.  Yet more embarrassing revelations surfaced the other day in their long running spying scandal.  The State Police can't seem to make this problem go away and there's a good reason for that.  They still won't admit it was wrong.

Let's back up a bit and look at what happened and what the State Police have said and done about it.  Back in 2005, the State Police decided they needed to spy on anti-war and anti-death penalty groups because the police were worried about what might happen at demonstrations against the death penalty in Maryland. 

The state police sent spies into the meetings of these groups, recorded all their activities and added the names of the groups and members to a multi-state terrorist database despite the fact that no illegal activities were ever discussed or carried out. 

Despite the fact that no evidence of illegal activities was ever found, the State Police continued and expanded the surveillance to include such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and numerous peace groups and anti-death penalty groups.

To this day, neither the man who was police superintendent at the time, Tim Hitchins, nor the current superintendent, Terrence Sheridan, see anything wrong with what was done, except for a possible waste of resources. 

Well, a waste of resources it certainly was.  But it was much more.  It was a brazen action by the State Police to investigate and infiltrate politically active groups that happened to espouse positions that the State Police may not have agreed with. 

The ridiculous justification offered by the police that they were worried about violence at scheduled executions is nonsense on its face.  There has never been violence by any of the groups investigated.  Certainly there has been civil disobedience, but there's a simple solution to that - arrest the people when they break the law.  It's always worked.

Besides, civil disobedience has a long and honorable history in this country, from the Boston Tea Party and the patriot groups that were organized around the War for Independence to the abolitionists to those who demonstrated and conducted sit-ins for women's right to vote, for civil rights and for other causes that have become part of our country.  Sure, civil disobedience can be a bit messy, but democracy and freedom of expression are inherently a bit messy. 

The State Police and Colonel Sheridan assure us that the surveillance of activist groups and political groups has stopped and won't be started again unless he thinks its necessary.  What kind of assurance is that?  He doesn't even seem to understand what was wrong with it to begin with. 

We need two kinds of change in Annapolis.  First, Colonel Sheridan needs to leave.  If he doesn't understand the basic problem with the spying that went on, he is unfit to command the State Police.  Second, the General Assembly needs to enact legislation placing the strictest of controls on this kind of activity.  Civil rights, the right to free expression and the right to peaceably assemble should mean something in the Free State.

Beer

Some 100 college presidents, including six from Maryland have again raised the question of what is the proper age to allow legal consumption of alcohol.  Predictably, their proposal to revisit the issue has raised a storm of protest from those who don't want to even debate the issue - their mind is made up. 

Now many people won't drink alcohol at all for one reason or another, and I respect that, as long as they don't try to impose their beliefs on me.  Most of us believe that a glass of beer or wine, or something stronger makes a pleasant accompaniment to a meal, a relaxing pause at the end of the day or a happy supplement to a party or get-together.

Prior to 1988, each state set it's own minimum age for consuming or purchasing alcoholic beverages.  In 1988, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act which withheld Federal revenue from states that did not set 21 as the minimum age for purchasing or publicly drinking alcoholic beverages.  It's worth noting that almost every other country (except for those that ban alcohol completely) has a lower minimum drinking age - usually 18 although in many countries the age is much lower.

Proponents of keeping the minimum age at 21 point to the significant decrease in drunk driving arrests for those 18-21 since the Act passed.  It should be noted, however, that drunk driving arrests have decreased in every age bracket during that period as a result of changing social attitudes toward drinking and driving and increased enforcement.  It should also be pointed out that there has been an increase in 'binge drinking' among youngsters 18-21 during the same period and hospitalization of the same group for alcohol poisoning has risen during the period.

My personal opinion is that everyone should be allowed to purchase and consume beer and/or wine at age 18 and distilled spirits at age 21.

First of all, the Act doesn't really prevent youngsters from drinking.  I live only a few miles from Ocean City, Maryland and, despite heavy attempts at enforcement by the Ocean City Police, plenty of publicity about the dangers of drinking and checking of luggage and rooms by hotel proprietors, there is plenty of drinking by the high school graduates that come every June.  In fact, I have never met a young person between say, 16 and 21, who didn't think he or she could get alcohol when and if it was wanted. 

Second, and most important, banning all alcohol for the 18 - 21 age group in public means that they are denied the valuable lessons of learning how to drink responsibly.  When I was in college in Washington, DC, the drinking age was 18 for beer or wine and 21 for distilled spirits.  We frequented a number of bars near the university and learned quickly that there were rules about drinking in public - rules that were enforced quickly and ruthlessly by others who were older, wiser and usually much stronger.  We came to understand that, to be able to enjoy ourselves in the bar or restaurant we had to abide by the social mores that governed public use of alcohol.

Teenagers today who drink don't have the benefit of that social structure.  They have to drink privately, out of the public eye and in the company only of others of the same age.  It's no wonder they binge drink and behave as they do.  A drinking age of 21 infantalizes students - many of them are away from home for the first time or working full time for the first time - when they should be making the transition to adults.

It's worth noting, also that at 18, individuals can marry, adopt children, vote, serve in the military and purchase firearms from licensed dealers.  The path to adulthood is difficult.  We spend years teaching our children the things they will need to know to live as independent adults and responsible members of society.  Alcohol is a part of the culture in almost all of America and it is widely available, regardless of age.  We should teach our children, as they are on the verge of adulthood, to use it well and responsibly.  It will be better in the long run.

[The image is of an 1879 poster for beer.  The photo of myself that accompanies this blog was taken in Turkey as I sipped a mug of Efes beer - certainly an excellent beer.  It's worth noting that Turkey - a country which is 99% muslim has an excellent beer, some decent wine and a wonderful distilled spirit called Raki which I can't find anywhere on the Eastern Shore!]     

Lubyanka on the Severn

The Baltimore Sun, Washington Post and a host of other newspapers report today that the Maryland State Police have repeatedly spied on groups opposed to the death penalty or opposed to the war.  Despite the fact that the police spies reported no plans for illegal activity or any illegal activity itself, the State Police reported the names of some participants to the Federal government to be entered into the national database of people thought to be terrorists or drug traffickers.

This is both stupid and dangerous.  Stupid because it diverts scarce resources from fighting crime to unproductive spying on people who are peaceful and law-abiding.  Dangerous because it erodes popular support for the police and damages their credibility.  Who can trust them?  Many in Maryland oppose the death penalty, the war in Iraq or war in general.  Why would our state police spy on them and report them as, of all things, potential terrorists? 

The right to dissent and protest are important American values - they help keep our democracy strong and have played an important part in the evolution of our country, from the very founding of our country to the abolitionist movement that helped raise public consciousness about slavery to the suffragette movement that won the right to vote for women to the civil rights movement that helped to finally bring equal rights to African-Americans and to the anti-war movement that helped end the fruitless war in Vietnam.  Dissent is important because it helps us examine our assumptions and see others' points of view.

Of course, some of this can be attributed to sheer laziness.  The agents that the Maryland State Police sent to spy on the peaceful and law-abiding citizens of the state repeatedly reported that no illegal activity was planned or had taken place.  Yet they consistently recommended the spying be continued.  Why would they do that?  Well, going to meetings of peace activists and anti-death penalty types is certainly easier and safer than going after criminals!

Governor O'Malley needs to get to the bottom of this.  Those responsible for this fiasco need to be terminated - there's no place in our state government for this kind of nonsense.  Investigating and spying on people simply because they dissent is an affront to our American way of life.  After a full disclosure of what went on, the records of this spying need to be purged to protect the reputations of those who were spied upon.  And our police need to get back to enforcing the law and catching criminals - certainly there is enough crime in Maryland to keep them busy.

The photo above is of the KBG headquarters on Lubyanka Square in Moscow.  Russians used to joke that it was the tallest building in Moscow because 'from its basement you can see Siberia'.  We don't need any secret police in Maryland. 

General Assembly Results - Criminal Justice

This is the first of a series of posts that will examine the results of the recently completed Maryland General Assembly session. 

There was not a lot of activity in the criminal justice area in this session.  The major piece of legislation - to allow DNA samples to be taken from those accused of certain violent crimes at the time of arrest - was passed, but only with amendments allowing the samples to be expunged if the person is not convicted.  Frankly, I'm not sure why this is better than just taking DNA samples from those convicted, as is now done.  I suppose we'll find out.

Speed cameras aren't going to appear in most of the state this year.  Legislation to authorize their use statewide in residential districts, school zones and work zones was threatened with a Republican filibuster at the last minute and so was dropped from the final agenda.  Personally, I don't understand this; Republicans cast this as a 'civil liberty' issue, but where's the civil liberty to blow through a school zone at twenty miles per hour over the speed limit.  Given the state of roads and traffic in Maryland, it seems to me that the more of these crazy people we catch the better.  I'm betting this comes back next year.

Similarly, we're not going to see a ban on using handheld cellphones while driving.  Opponents of this measure said, and rightly, that it's no more dangerous than putting makeup on while driving.  But why they decided to keep them both legal rather than outlaw both of them escapes me.  It's common sense that using a handheld cell phone while driving degrades the driving performance; just watch someone trying to negotiate a corner with one hand while holding the cellphone with another.  I'm betting we see this one again next year.

Legislation to encourage local police departments to record interrogations for serious crimes was passed.  This is common sense legislation that would bring Maryland in line with many other states and local jurisidictions.  Recording the Miranda warning at the start of an interrogation could reduce subsequent challenges based on an allegation that the warning was defective.  In addition, it could resolve many questions about what was said and done over the course of an interrogation.  The bill was opposed only by four Republican senators, including Andy Harris, who apparently believe it's better to keep some uncertainty over what was said and done.

Finally, the General Assembly passed The Maryland Mortgage Fraud Protection Act.  the bill makes it a crime to knowingly falsify information in mortgage documents to defraud a lender or borrower.  The bill passed the House with an overwhelming majority - opposed only by a small group of Republican legislators and passed the Senate with only one vote in opposition - Senator Greenip - who courageously stood up for the rights of those who want to knowingly falsify information and defraud others.  I'm sure they'll reward her.

[The photo, by 'Krokodyl' is of a municipal police car in Prague, Czech Republic] 

 

The General Assembly Tackles Crime and Punishment

Well, actually they haven't.  With about two weeks left in the session and high initial hopes for some initiatives it looks like our political leaders have niftily avoided having to take a position on most majore issues.

The big issue, of course, was abolition of the death penalty in Maryland.  The state has had an effective moratorium on executions since late 2006 when the Court of Appeals decided that the state's procedures for lethal injections (which had been used for some time) had not be 'properly adopted'.  To resume executions, the state must adopt new regulations, but Governor O'Malley, who has pushed for abolition of the death penalty, is in no hurry to do so.

Last year, a proposal in the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty and substitute life imprisonment with parole failed by a single vote.  There was high hope that this year our legislators would grit their teeth and take action on this issue.

But that was not to be.  Rather than take the politically risky step of voting either for or agains the death penalty, our legislators, in their infinite wisdom voted to...establish a commission to study the issue!  And best of all, the nineteen member commission won't have a lot of heavy lifting to do since, if they like they can simply photocopy the reports of the four previous commissions and studies. 

So, by December 15, we'll have the report of the commission which will provide us all with food for thought and will be just in time for the next session of the General Assembly.  Of course, abolishing the death penalty will be a big issue for that session and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm guessing, though, that instead of wimping out and appointing a study commission next year, they'll wise up and recommend a blue-ribbon panel  instead.

Governor O'Malley proposed this year that the state be granted authority to take DNA samples from those arrested for violent crimes.  After considerable back and forth on the issue, the House of Delegates has passed a bill which allows DNA samples to be taken only when charges are bought and provides for automatic expungement of the DNA record if there's no conviction.  It looks like this will pass, but it's not clear what the impact will be.

In other significant inaction, a bill to reduce penalties for low-level, non-violent drug dealers was withdrawn to avoid having to vote on it.  Maryland, like many states, has mandatory minimum sentences for a a variety of drug crimes.  These minimum sentences have filled Maryland's prisons to overflowing without doing anything to reduce the level of drug activity in Maryland.

The bill, as proposed, would have changed first-time, low volume and non-violent drug selling crimes misdemeanors rather than felonies and would have provided drug treatment for more of those convicted rather than incarceration.  This makes sense because a) incarceration is expensive and does nothing to rehabilitate the person, and b) most of them are addicts who only sell drugs to support their habit.  Studies have shown a big payoff for drug treatment programs in such cases, with reduced recidivism rates and lower cost to the taxpayers.  Maryland district and circuit court judges support laws that will give them the option to order drug treatment rather than prison.

But, unfortunately, things that make sense don't always get the attention they deserve and we have to able to tell our constituents that we're 'tough on crime' rather than trying to find solutionsthat actually reduce the amount of crime.  Perhaps next year we'll appoint a commission.

[ The illustration is a poster for the melodrama "Human Hearts" and was published in 1910]