Posts by Joseph Carey

On January 6, 2021, a violent mob stormed the Capitol building in Washington, DC. The riot led to the lockdown of the building, property damage, countless injuries and, when the dust cleared, five deaths. In the ensuing days of confusion and chaos, Americans are hearing terms we haven’t talked about since we were in history…

Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps. Its popularity does not diminish its dangers, however. While witness intimidation is nothing new, the sheer numbers of people who are threatening one another online seem to grow every day. According to reports, multiple Instagram accounts based in Baltimore were deactivated after it was found…

A tragic accident in Alabama took the life of a five-year-old boy. A Russell County Sheriff told CBS News that the boy was forced to exit the car he was riding in on a busy highway as punishment for ‘acting up.’ The child has been identified as Austin Birdseye. He was riding in the car…

In one of the more shocking news stories of the year, teen siblings who found fame on America’s Got Talent were detained, strip searched, and forced to spend a night in a juvenile detention center. The teens, 15 and 13, were arrested by police in Louisiana in November for refusing to leave their father and…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently released is 2019 hate crimes statistics, and Maryland had 19 hate crime incidents recorded in 2019. Hate crimes are separated into multiple categories based on the type of incident, location, and agency reporting the crimes. The data was provided by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. The…

On November 17, 2020, Circuit Judge Stacy McCormack ruled that Darius Devon Mackell was not guilty of murder, robbery, and firearms charges stemming from the death of Dontae Simmons in 2018. Judge McCormack absolved Mackell of those charges in part because she did not find the prosecution’s witness credible. Per The Baltimore Sun, Judge McCormack…

In Mid-November, a DEA agent – dressed up like a FedEx driver – dropped off a package of cocaine at home in Baltimore. A woman answered the door and accepted the package, so police started planning to get a search warrant. Before the warrant could come through, The Baltimore Sun reports, police “said a man,…

There is an old trope in film and television about pleading “insanity” to go free from a murder case. In Maryland, claiming that a client is “not criminally responsible” is a tough row to hoe, and it is not used all that often. Which is why the murder case of Tyrique Hudson, and the subsequent…

Most people take for granted that they can just hop into our car and get from one place to the other. Certain medical conditions, however, may bar certain individuals from doing that, because those conditions (or prescribed medications) make driving unsafe. However, a sudden medical emergency is often unexpected. A heart attack, a stroke, a…

Maryland lawmakers have increased the severity and penalties for charge of strangulation, making it a felony crime instead of a misdemeanor. This change coincided with Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you have been charged with strangulation, you will face a tougher battle to retain your rights and freedoms. A special unit at Frederick Health Hospital…

The Constitution of the United States delineates areas of jurisdiction within the nation, allotting certain obligations and rights to both the federal government and state governments. Jurisdiction involves a court’s power to hear and adjudicate cases. Under criminal law, the imposition of punishment is connected with the proper jurisdiction. If a court does not have…

Expungement is the action of the state to remove a police or court record of an individual from public view and inspection. Expungement may involve the relocation of the record to a secure area to prevent individuals who have no right to see the record from seeing it, or it may involve the destruction of…

The coronavirus pandemic has been sweeping across the nation over the last four months, including in jails and prisons in many states. In these facilities it is difficult in many cases to maintain proper social distancing between inmates. Due to these concerns, many politicians and advocates have promoted successfully the idea of releasing inmates, particularly…

Protests come in various sizes. Sometimes only a small handful of people gather holding signs, and at other times hundreds congregate and march down streets demanding certain changes in society. At times these protests involve certain individuals exhibiting disorderly conduct or breaking other laws. Depending on the type of demonstration involved, it is important to…

Parole is a method for a prisoner to be released from prison before he/she has completed his/her full sentence. Parole is determined in Maryland by the Division of Parole and Probation. It is a way of reducing the prison population and rewarding good behavior in prison. Parole may be granted only after there is parole…