Around Maryland

Protests continue more than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade., even outside the houses of the justices who voted to strike the precedent down.  Pro-abortion rights protesters have brought their outrage outside the private homes of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts in Chevy Chase, Maryland, sparking some security concerns. The Marshal of the United States Supreme Court has asked the governors of Maryland and Virginia to enforce local and state laws that “prohibit picketing at the homes of” the justices.

On July 5, 1852, the day after Independence Day, abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass delivered a speech in Rochester, New York, called “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Nearly 170 years after his blistering indictment of slavery in America, following the swearing-in of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson onto an embattled Supreme Court, the question remains top of mind for one Prince George’s County resident: retired Maryland Circuit Court Judge Ingrid Turner.

In March of 2021, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Jason Hardebeck as the director of the newly-created Mayor’s Office of Broadband and Digital Equity. The appointment and office’s creation were seen as major steps forward, as well as proof of the city’s commitment to closing the digital divide. A year and a few months later, as part of our third Racial Equity in Tech Month, we circled back to ask community stakeholders — and Hardebeck himself — how much progress the office has made.

The former head of fiscal services for the Baltimore Police Department, who was fired in April after officials realized he was a person of interest in a homicide investigation, has been federally indicted for wire fraud and money laundering related to COVID relief loans. Dana Hayes, 37, was arrested Wednesday night after a federal grand jury handed up the indictment last week. In addition to COVID relief fraud, Hayes is also charged with stealing the identity of a tax preparer.

The dimly lit room on the top floor of the brick building in Southwest Baltimore hums with sounds of clacking keyboards and the slow, low voices of the call center operators. It’s early Monday morning and already the calls to Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. are flowing in at a steady clip. “Baltimore Crisis Response: here to help,” the counselors say into the phone.

Baltimore County School Board is fighting to ensure that Chief Auditor Andrea Barr’s last day remains June 30. The school board filed a motion for dissolution of the temporary restraining order that currently requires the board to renew Barr’s contract. Barr originally filed a lawsuit claiming her contract was terminated unlawfully by the school board, which voted 6-0 to renew her contract on May 17.

A local nonprofit filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Baltimore City Law Department, alleging the department is conspiring with the Baltimore Police Department to obstruct access to public records of police misconduct. The Baltimore Action Legal Team, also known as BALT, is a civil rights-focused nonprofit that provides legal support. The organization is representing three plaintiffs: Open Justice Baltimore, a nongovernmental organization; Alissa Figueroa, a journalist in residence at Morgan State University; and reporter Brandon Soderberg.

Montgomery County Public Schools’ new social studies framework will expose fourth- and fifth-graders to more American history — particularly Black history — at a younger age. The new curriculum will incorporate anti-bias and anti-racist content and local history about Montgomery County, according to Tracy Oliver-Gary, the district’s social studies supervisor. It was presented to the county school board this week and received unanimous approval.