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How to use the dog days of summer
It’s the dog days of August. The Orioles are in first place. Training camps for the Ravens and the Commanders are in full swing. Many lawyers and court staff are on vacation. The press of litigation and deadlines has waned. The summer slowdown has thus become an ideal time for lawyers to focus on some […]
Protecting Baltimore DPW workers
What will it take for Baltimore City to get its act together with respect to the health and safety of its employees? A disturbing emergency report just published by Baltimore’s Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming seems to reflect that it will take a lot and that improvement is urgently needed. The full report and its […]
Tradepoint Atlantic making an impact
It had been nearly eight years since I visited southeastern Baltimore County to see what was happening at Sparrows Point, the site where Bethlehem Steel had been producing steel products and engaged in shipbuilding for the better part of a century. When I visited in 2016, steelmaking had already ended four years earlier. Shipbuilding had […]
The CFPB is very much needed
In May, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the funding scheme for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the second time the high court has considered a constitutional challenge to the bureau. So you might think the bureau’s survival is assured. But in fact, the CFPB faces two more challenges. The first is likely to be […]
Speaking of political debates
Life in the United States during the pre-Civil War era was one of turmoil. The clash over slavery was becoming more intense every day. Consider in 1857 the Dred Scott decision, holding that Scott was not a citizen and could not file suit in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court also held that African Americans […]
The high court and presidential immunity
Seldom do we start an editorial with a question, but we ask here what is terribly wrong with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision that, in essence, allows a U.S. president to order the murder of a political rival and be immune from prosecution if that order is considered an official act and is […]
How important is Bloomberg’s $1 billion gift to Johns Hopkins?
Mike Bloomberg, the media mogul and former New York City mayor, has given Johns Hopkins University $1 billion to eliminate tuition for most its current and future medical students, the school and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced this week. The gift will also expand financial aid for students studying several other fields at Bloomberg’s alma mater, from […]
Military readiness is a key election issue
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, a critical issue remains largely unaddressed: the alarming deficiencies in the U.S. military. Political debates about the extent of our engagement in foreign conflicts — whether in support of Ukraine, Israel or the defense of Taiwan — assume that the United States has the necessary hard power. This hard […]
Should I register my mark? Yes!
A pal and I walked across the parking lot at the Maryland State Bar Association conference last month looking for a lunch joint; the topic of our conversation was whether and why copyright and trademark registrations are necessary and beneficial. My bud correctly pointed out that a trademark acquires common law rights as soon as […]
The American flag: A complex symbol for a diverse nation
The consensus on what ideals the American flag represents has significantly eroded.
The Supreme Court and social media
The U.S. Supreme Court has sent back to lower courts the decision about whether states can block social media companies such as Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, from regulating and controlling what users can post on their platforms. Laws in Florida and Texas sought to impose restrictions on the internal policies and algorithms of social […]
Judges and the public’s confidence
Our legal system depends on public confidence in the judiciary.
