Maryland Law

Hagerstown resident David Benton started riding a scooter four months ago when his motorcycle broke down. He said he doesn't have insurance for the scooter, but supports a new Maryland law that will make having it a requirement after Oct. 1. “I believe there should be insurance,” Benton said. “Where's the liability if someone runs into somebody ... Who's going to pay for my hospital bills?” The law was passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the legislative session earlier this year.

Hagerstown police say four shootings in the city over the past week were retaliatory strikes between the Bloods and Crips street gangs. Lt. Tom Langston said Monday that the first incident occurred at about 7 p.m. April 15 behind a house in the 200 block of North Jonathan Street, where a man he alleged is associated with the Bloods exchanged gunfire with a juvenile associate of the Crips. At first, police believed the adult was the only person who was shot, but an investigation determined that a juvenile also was hit. Langston said both sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

andrews@herald-mail.com An increasing number of gay people had been asking for marriage licenses. It was time for Maryland's attorney general to get involved. State law and jurisprudence offered bits and pieces of gender guidance, such as a reference to a "widow" possibly marrying a "widower" and an 1828 court case that mentioned "man and woman. " So, the attorney general used anatomy to bolster his opinion that only a man and a woman may make up a wedded couple.

Much more money flowed through two successful statewide petition drives this year than a similar effort last year. The Maryland Marriage Alliance spent more than $160,000 on collecting enough signatures to force a referendum on Maryland's new same-sex marriage law, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by The Herald-Mail. MdPetitions.com, a group led by state Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, spent about $56,000 this year on a petition effort against Maryland's new congressional boundaries map. In contrast, MdPetitions.com spent about $9,500 last year to force a referendum on Maryland's new law granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - That people convicted of sexual abuse against children were being released before serving half of their sentences seemed to Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, to be a crime in itself. So for the second year, Shank is attempting to get legislation approved that would increase the amount of time a convicted child molester would have to serve before being eligible for parole, and would decrease the amount of time off convicted molesters could earn for good behavior while incarcerated.

ANNAPOLIS (AP) -- Sen. Alex X. Mooney, R-Frederick/Washington, is again pushing legislation to add homeless people to the list of those protected by hate crime laws. A Senate panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposal Wednesday afternoon. Maryland law already calls for extra penalties for violent crimes against victims singled out because of race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. In previous years, similar measures have failed after Democrats and Republicans alike split on the addition of homeless people to the list.

ANNAPOLIS - Three proposals by Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, on Tuesday were part of a state House committee's agenda of sex-crime bill hearings. Shank's most significant bill would eliminate parole for certain adults convicted of sexually abusing children. Another bill would add the crimes of sexual abuse and continuing sexual abuse when the victims are children to those considered "violent. " A third bill would make it illegal to lure a child in public in an attempt to commit a sex crime.

pepperb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - After a break from attorney arguments Wednesday in Washington County juvenile court about the language of his charges, the case against an 18-year-old man in connection with his Oct. 11 arrest was placed on an inactive docket under an agreement he will not sue the Hagerstown Police Department. The man, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, had denied involvement - the juvenile equivalent of pleading not guilty - to resisting arrest, making a false statement to police and possession of alcohol by consumption in connection with his Oct. 11 arrest in the 400 block of West Franklin Street.

By MARLO BARNHART Staff Writer HANCOCK - A man claiming responsibility for two burned animal carcasses that were dumped Sunday night in front of a Stine Road home has contacted Maryland State Police and explained the circumstances behind the incident. The owner of the smaller animal, now determined to be a cat, told Trooper 1st Class C.J. Barnard that a stray dog attacked his cat, disemboweling it. "Afraid the dog might have rabies, the man told me he then shot the dog and the injured cat and tried to burn them," Barnard said Thursday.

Trucker may face $10,000 fine A Canadian trucker could be facing nearly $10,000 in fines for operating a rig in Washington County that weighed nearly double allowed by Maryland law, according to Maryland State Police. State police stopped Steven Roy Pepper, 28, of Smith Falls, Ontario, on Interstate 81 at Halfway Boulevard in late June for a weigh check. The vehicle, which had 11 axles, was weighed in at 195,600 pounds, police said. The permit for the truck only allowed for a weight of 110,000, police said.

Hagerstown police say four shootings in the city over the past week were retaliatory strikes between the Bloods and Crips street gangs. Lt. Tom Langston said Monday that the first incident occurred at about 7 p.m. April 15 behind a house in the 200 block of North Jonathan Street, where a man he alleged is associated with the Bloods exchanged gunfire with a juvenile associate of the Crips. At first, police believed the adult was the only person who was shot, but an investigation determined that a juvenile also was hit. Langston said both sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, has introduced a bill in the Maryland General Assembly that would prohibit abortions at 20 weeks gestation or later, except under some circumstances such as medical emergencies. The bill, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, also has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Edward R. Reilly, R-Anne Arundel. “Since children in the womb 20 weeks old or older feel pain … we should not allow abortions for children 20 weeks old or older,” Parrott said at a press conference Wednesday.

Hagerstown resident David Benton started riding a scooter four months ago when his motorcycle broke down. He said he doesn't have insurance for the scooter, but supports a new Maryland law that will make having it a requirement after Oct. 1. “I believe there should be insurance,” Benton said. “Where's the liability if someone runs into somebody ... Who's going to pay for my hospital bills?” The law was passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the legislative session earlier this year.

Three changes in Maryland's law this fall should help neighborhoods that have been hurt by the housing foreclosure crisis, an official said late last month. The changes were approved by the state legislature earlier this year after being recommended by a special task force appointed to study such problems, said Kathleen Murphy, president of the Maryland Bankers Association and a task force member. Murphy said the state is in the process of writing regulations to carry out the changes, which are to take effect Oct. 1. She provided information about the changes: • To speed up the time it now takes for vacant properties in foreclosure to be put up for sale, “there will be a process where the lender can apply to the local government for a certificate to confirm that the property they're foreclosing on is vacant,” Murphy said.

Kristin B. Aleshire is pressing for answers about an 11th-hour robocall that attacked him before the Washington County commissioners election nearly two years ago. Aleshire said he wants the state to enforce election laws that still haven't been followed from that campaign season. The Maryland State Board of Elections has forwarded Aleshire's complaint to the state prosecutor's office, which previously investigated the robocall case and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Much more money flowed through two successful statewide petition drives this year than a similar effort last year. The Maryland Marriage Alliance spent more than $160,000 on collecting enough signatures to force a referendum on Maryland's new same-sex marriage law, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by The Herald-Mail. MdPetitions.com, a group led by state Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, spent about $56,000 this year on a petition effort against Maryland's new congressional boundaries map. In contrast, MdPetitions.com spent about $9,500 last year to force a referendum on Maryland's new law granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants.

Smithsburg Police Chief George L. Knight Jr. urged state senators on Thursday to help a local family obtain a slain officer's service weapon. Christopher S. Nicholson was shot and killed while on duty for Smithsburg police on Dec. 19, 2007. Knight said Nicholson worked hard to become a police officer, overcoming a heart condition. Nicholson had been on the job for about a year and a half when he was “ambushed” by a man who already had killed his ex-girlfriend earlier that day, Knight said.

More than four years after Smithsburg police Officer Christopher S. Nicholson was shot and killed while on duty, his father is trying to get the fallen officer's service weapon. Larry Nicholson said he wants the handgun as part of a memorial for his son. Maryland law allows police officers' guns to be sold or transferred in a variety of ways, but doesn't permit what Larry Nicholson wants to do. Del. Andrew A. Serafini, R-Washington, and Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, have filed House and Senate versions of a bill to help Larry Nicholson with his quest.

Two top Washington County law enforcement officers  and several area lawmakers say they would support tougher safety laws for mo-peds and motor scooters. Their comments follow two area accidents, one in which a rider was killed and another in which the rider was critically injured, over a 10-day period. Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore and Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith said they would back stricter laws that at the very least would require riders to wear helmets to increase their chances of survival.

Maj. Sam Billotti of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office is qualified to be a lawyer, but Maryland won’t let him do both jobs at once. Billotti has a law degree and has been admitted to the Maryland bar. However, state law prohibits sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, among others, from practicing law. A bill pending in the Maryland General Assembly seeks to help Billotti and others like him. It would let a sheriff or deputy sheriff work...