Politics

A federal appeals court has upheld an Anne Arundel County law requiring gun dealers to distribute suicide prevention and conflict resolution literature. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a gun rights group and four store owners of a 2022 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher stating the county could have the requirement.

Republicans are pushing to repeal a controversial Maryland law that prohibits police from pulling over and searching drivers simply because they smell of marijuana, but Democratic leaders say they aren’t interested in dramatic changes to the state’s cannabis legislation this year. Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City says Democrats are only considering what they refer to as “improvements” to Maryland’s cannabis law, following its legalization for adult use last year.

More than any policy issue, life experience has emerged as a flashpoint in a U.S. Senate race between two elected officials shunning the “career politician” label as they race to define themselves to Maryland voters as the most real. Six weeks after clashing in a forum over their backgrounds, Democratic candidates David Trone and Angela Alsobrooks eagerly tout their personal histories — he as a self-made multimillionaire from a struggling Pennsylvania farm family, and she as a mom and lifelong Marylander inspired by her parents and grandparents to pursue a public service career.

Ebony Thompson, Baltimore’s first female solicitor, was confirmed Monday by the Baltimore City Council, making Thompson permanent in the role she has held for the last year. The council voted unanimously in favor of Thompson, who joined the Baltimore City Law Department as the deputy solicitor in January 2022. Thompson has served as acting solicitor since January 2023 when then-Solicitor Jim Shea retired.

State Del. Karen Simpson is seeking the support of the Frederick County delegation in trying to repeal a 1917 law that prescribes road work as a punishment for “vagrants” and others accused of violating municipal laws in the city of Frederick. In an interview on Monday, Simpson (D-3) said that Section 9, Subtitle 5, of the Code of Maryland contains a number of provisions that seem to target certain groups of people, including those without homes, for forced labor.

The Wes Moore-for-president talk started before his inauguration a year ago. Barely a month into his term, a top House leader had to tell Democratic members of Congress at a Baltimore retreat that the “Wes Moore selfie line” needed to sit down so that President Biden could speak. All year, attention followed the lone Black governor of a U.S. state, a new-to-politics politician, whose charisma overshadowed obvious minor defeats. Rapper LL Cool J played at his birthday party; famed portrait photographer Annie Leibowitz captured him for Vogue.