Commentary

I have spent my entire career with Peter Angelos and I’m now about to retire after 58 years of law practice. I have been fortunate enough to be at his side throughout the entirety of the wild ride our careers experienced. While I’ve been with him for the legal and business achievements, including the acquisition of the Baltimore Orioles, I’ve also been with him for his myriad contributions to the lives of Baltimoreans and Marylanders that few people will ever know about. He wanted it that way.

On a daily basis, thousands of customers call Maryland businesses to order food, refill medications, or request services. These calls are often motivated by the advertising done by businesses through promotional materials, such as direct mailings and television advertisements. Customers know what they want and from whom, so they call the business, and money and products are exchanged. But under a dangerous ruling recently made by the Maryland Supreme Court, this longstanding and widely understood way of conducting business would disappear.

According to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, 656 large data breaches affected state residents in 2023 and exposed their personal information online, creating the opportunity for countless instances of identity theft and fraud. As a lawyer who represents victims of identity theft, I see what happens when hackers open fraudulent accounts.

Decades before Peter G. Angelos, multi-millionaire baseball team owner, came off as ruthless, headstrong and too eager to pick a fight, he was known to Baltimoreans in 1959 as a 29-year-old, fresh-faced City Council member who could be ruthless, headstrong and eager to fight.

Marylanders are now without legal protections for many forms of discrimination, leaving them exposed to serious harms with no state-level legal recourse. This past August, the Maryland Supreme Court issued a troubling ruling in John Doe v. CRS. The decision weakened the statutory protections afforded to all Marylanders under every state anti-discrimination clause.

The climate crisis isn’t on the horizon — it’s already upon us. Its effects are evident daily, impacting our communities, economy, and even national security. It’s imperative that we push our leaders to take decisive action. Gov. Wes Moore, who has championed environmental causes, and has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to working with and listening to communities throughout our state, can take action today to help our state, and the nation, address this crisis at the size and scope needed. He can do so by making plans to take advantage of a new rule that was recently issued by the Biden administration.

The Maryland General Assembly is a bit like two parents who gave the kids every toy they wanted for Christmas, charging everything on credit cards. Now, they are wondering how they will pay the bills. It is always easier to spend than to pay, just as it is easier to vote for spending than it is to vote to tax people to get the money. The problem is rearing its ugly head now in the General Assembly, with the House of Delegates and the state Senate at odds.