Politics

The drive to get the questions on the ballot was undertaken by a group called the People for Elected Accountability & Civic Engagement. The organization was created in February and funded almost entirely by David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair, a Hunt Valley-based television broadcasting company, according to a July 25 campaign finance report. Sinclair operates 185 television stations in 86 markets, including WBFF-TV, known as Fox 45, in Baltimore.

Two ballot questions supported with an infusion of cash from the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group may be put to voters this fall in Baltimore. City election officials are reviewing petition signatures for two potential questions for voters: Do they want to establish recall elections for city politicians who fail to live up to standards? And would they impose a limit of two terms on the city’s mayor, City Council and comptroller? The drive to get the questions on the ballot was undertaken by a group called the People for Elected Accountability & Civic Engagement. The organization was created in February and funded almost entirely by David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair, a Hunt Valley-based television broadcasting company, according to a July 25 campaign finance report.

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a brief in federal court on Tuesday, challenging Texas’ assertion that states shouldn’t have to comply with a federal law that protects doctors who end a pregnancy to save the patient’s life. Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a brief in federal court on Tuesday, challenging Texas’ assertion that states shouldn’t have to comply with a federal law that protects doctors who end a pregnancy to save the patient’s life.

Nothing has been able to kill scam robocalls — not federal regulation, not individual state lawsuits, not private software. Each effort has made a dent, but the unwanted calls keep on coming, much to the consternation of Americans on the receiving end. Now, all 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas to reach their customers. “Robocalls are more than an annoyance, they are often schemes by fraudsters and scammers with the purpose of stealing billions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) said earlier this month.

A Maryland gun rights group is taking another shot at gaining financial compensation from the state for individuals compelled to surrender their bump stocks when the General Assembly banned possession of the devices that can be placed on firearms to make them fire faster. In papers filed with the Supreme Court last week, Maryland Shall Issue urged the justices to hear a claim by other gun rights advocates that a similar federal ban on rapid-fire trigger activators amounted to a governmental “taking” of personal property for which their formerly lawful owners are owed “just compensation” under the U.S. Constitution.

Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” where he said the Department of Justice needs to be transparent in its investigation of former President Donald Trump, while members of his own party need to stop with the violent rhetoric. Hogan on Sunday said that, while he was relieved U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland provided more information and had unsealed the warrant regarding the Aug. 6 FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the seriousness of the investigation against the former president, especially where it concerns espionage and treason, requires more transparency.