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Commentary

Editorial: Want to reduce overdoses? Give people a safe place to do drugs.
January 31, 2021 -

The COVID-19 pandemic gives more reason for why the state should finally approve legislation creating overdose prevention sites, where people can use drugs in a safe setting staffed with medical professionals. Advocates of such sites, which already exist in 12 countries around the world, have tried for around half a decade to bring these centers to Maryland with no success. But with overdose rates on the rise, the state needs to try new ways to prevent more deaths.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Milbank: The ‘civil war’ for the soul of the GOP is over before it began. Trump won — again.
January 31, 2021 -

The supposed civil war within the Republican Party is over. The neo-Confederates have won. Just three weeks ago, congressional GOP leaders set out to reclaim their party from President Donald Trump and his violent supporters. Trump had frequently emboldened white supremacists and domestic terrorists, but never more visibly than when he recruited and incited those who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 — and then did nothing for hours as they rampaged, hunting for lawmakers, in hopes of overturning the election.

Read More: Washington Post
Ignatius: The U.S. is finally catching up to the domestic terrorism threat
January 31, 2021 -

It’s often said that soldiers don’t hear the mortar round hurtling toward them until it explodes. For most Americans, that was true with the insurgency that detonated at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. We should have seen it coming: Intelligence reports from local police and the FBI describe a wave of domestic terrorism building through the summer and fall as the United States headed toward the November presidential election. But as is so often the case, law enforcement agencies didn’t take decisive action until too late.

Read More: Washington Post
The jury is in: Spy plane is out
January 29, 2021 -

From its beginning five years ago, the concept of planes circling Baltimore with video cameras in hopes of helping police solve violent crimes was a dubious undertaking. The best thing that could be said about it was that it was free — a test of technology by backers hoping to make money selling the equipment and expertise to many other cities. And given Baltimore’s level of violent crime, with a nearly one-a-day homicide rate, it was an offer that was almost impossible to refuse even if it seemed constitutionally suspect as an invasion of privacy.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Fines and Fees Keep Marylanders From Accessing Justice
January 29, 2021 -

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented financial burden for Marylanders, with high rates of unemployment, businesses shuttering, and the deaths of family and friends. While we will never be able to repair the deep harms this virus has caused fully, this session of the Maryland General Assembly presents multiple opportunities to alleviate financial harm, particularly in the justice system. There might be no place where the effect of income loss is more potent than the criminal justice system.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Elfreth’s stormwater bill provides added push on assessing threat of climate change in Maryland
January 29, 2021 -

There is overwhelming evidence that climate change will mean more rainfall for this region. As the atmosphere warms, it will hold more moisture, and storms will cover larger areas and occur more frequently. Finding the information needed to make good decisions on this is difficult. Maryland doesn’t require forward-looking threat assessments for homebuyers, for example, as we reported last month in our series Sink or Swim.

Read More: Capital Gazette
Here’s a look at how zoning in Montgomery County can impact a neighborhood block by block
January 28, 2021 -

The last few months of 2020 featured quite a few developments that could help shift the dynamics in Montgomery County’s affordable housing crisis. The county council approved incentives to build high rises on WMATA property, unanimously voted to end the county’s housing moratorium, and will soon consider a measure to allow for missing middle housing close to metro stations. Councilmember Nancy Navarro (District 4) also sponsored Bill 44-20, which passed and will require the Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) to submit a racial equity and social justice impact statement for each Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA), a requirement that is already in place for bills.

Read More: Greater Greater Washington
Without impeachment conviction, the assault on truth will continue
January 28, 2021 -

After the Jan. 6 insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Pandemic has shown we can reduce arrests without an uptick in crime
January 28, 2021 -

COVID-19 has laid bare many societal challenges, including those in our criminal justice system. How can we continue to incarcerate people for petty offenses at a time when sending someone to prison can be a death sentence? The Sun’s recent article showing a reduction in arrests and prosecutions in Baltimore City, with no discernible uptick in crime, shows that we can be smart about crime, protect public health, and promote public safety simultaneously.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Kurtz: Maryland must take drastic action to limit climate change; this legislation is it
January 27, 2021 -

The Maryland General Assembly convened its annual session this month, and lawmakers are staring down a bevy of crises. There are the obvious political, economic and health crises, but looming next to those is climate change and its long-term repercussions to the state. We’re losing agricultural land to saltwater intrusion due to rising sea levels. Rainstorms are increasing in frequency and ferocity — resembling the heavy rain spells typically seen in tropical climates. Coastal communities such as Annapolis are dealing with tidal flooding that threatens historic and commercially important areas.

Read More: Balt Sun

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