Politics

Federal prosecutors responded Thursday to Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s renewed push to dismiss the perjury charges against her by calling her legal arguments “Orwellian.” After rejecting Mosby’s first attempt to have the charges dismissed on the grounds of vindictive prosecution, U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby agreed earlier this month to hear the two-term Democrat’s new arguments for dismissal of the perjury charges.

What happened last Friday at the U.S. Supreme Court was an outrage for Bethesda resident Julie Paquin. A transplant from California, Paquin, 68, said she has prioritized living in a blue state where most of her political positions are validated by local elected officials — a standard that she said has only been further entrenched by last week’s watershed decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

Just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks authority to broadly regulate greenhouse gas emissions, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore stood on the banks of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, surrounded by environmental leaders, promising to take swift and bold action on climate change if elected.

While two Republicans – an incumbent and a challenger – will be facing off in the July 19 primary as the only two candidates in the race for Harford County state’s attorney, the lack of a Democratic challenger has made the contest no less contentious. The race heated up this week when the Harford County Deputy Sheriff’s Union released a letter saying they had no confidence in current Harford State’s Attorney Albert Peisinger Jr., and that they voted to endorse his challenger, Alison Healey, for the office.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision limiting the EPA’s ability to rein in power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions won’t affect Maryland’s own accelerating emissions reduction goals — but makes such efforts by states all the more important in addressing the threats of climate change, advocates said. “The importance and urgency of Maryland’s actions to fight climate change went up dramatically today,” Maryland League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Kim Coble said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sent a constitutional challenge to Maryland’s ban on semiautomatic assault-style weapons back to a lower court with instructions that it apply the justices’ broad interpretation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms that they issued last week. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the ban, saying it promotes Maryland’s goal of protecting public safety without encroaching on what the Supreme Court has held to be the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to possess handguns for self-defense.

Mayor Brandon Scott on Thursday signed a bill to establish the Baltimore City Police Accountability Board. The signing comes three days after the Baltimore City Council passed the bill. “Proud to sign CB #22-0234 into law this afternoon alongside @MarkConway4th & @Nick_Mosby,” Scott said in a tweet. “This creates a comprehensive mechanism to hold officers accountable, protect our communities, & build trust between police & residents — all things that will help us build a safer Baltimore.”