Features – Page 4 – University of Baltimore School of Law Magazine

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Hope Keller

In 2017, on the day the consent decree between the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Baltimore and its police department was filed in court, then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

She began by noting that she took her oath of office on the day Baltimore erupted over Freddie Gray’s death in police custody.

“It was clear that here in Baltimore – as in so many American cities – deep-seated feelings of mistrust and hostility had gone unaddressed for too long,” Lynch said on Jan. 12, 2017. “And it was clear that in order to repair the social fabric, those issues had to be dealt with honestly, comprehensively and immediately.”

Against this backdrop, the UBalt School of Law this year launched the Center for Criminal Justice Reform (CCJR). Created with a $3 million gift from alumnus Samuel G. Rose, LL.B. ’62, the center supports community-driven efforts to improve public safety and address the harm and inequity caused by the criminal legal system. (A companion Criminal Defense and Advocacy Clinic, which begins in Spring 2023, was also created thanks to Rose’s bequest.)

Heather Warnken, executive director of the center, said it is engaging in a range of programming meant to address the mass incarceration crisis, and to reimagine public safety across the country. Part of this work means rethinking the definition of “crime victim” to build a more inclusive infrastructure of care.

“Historically, the idea of ‘crime victim’ [conjures] certain images and does not include the experience of Black men and youth who, by exponents, experience the most homicide and nonfatal gun violence in this country, including in Baltimore,” Warnken says, “yet are more likely to be criminalized than supported in the aftermath of that violence.”

Prof. David Jaros, the center’s faculty director, said he and Warnken sought to break down the “false dichotomy” between crime victims and the defendants who disproportionately wind up enmeshed in the criminal legal system.

“In fact, these are all the same people,” Jaros says. “Our system tends to divide [people] up into communities worthy of protection and respect for their rights and communities that don’t get the resources or protection of the legal system.”

Moreover, trauma begets more trauma, notes Warnken. “For people who experience violence and harm in their communities, especially in the absence of meaningful, humane, dignified responses that support them — the likelihood that they will be a victim or they will harm others is greater,” Warnken says. “Being serious about public safety means embracing what we know actually works in interrupting cycles of harm — and the systemic racism that perpetuates it.”

‘The Web of disparities’

Warnken and Jaros say the CCJR will regularly convene community and government stakeholders to identify challenges and recommend solutions to the deeply entrenched inequities in the national and local criminal legal systems.

Before coming to the law school, Warnken spent five years as a visiting fellow at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she was co-affiliated with the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office for Victims of Crime in the first-ever position dedicated to bridging the gap between research, policy and practice to improve the response to individuals and communities impacted by crime victimization.

In that role, Warnken led an assessment of how people impacted by violence are treated in Baltimore. The report authored by her and her team — which examined the experiences of underserved survivors, focused on Black men and youth affected by gun violence — was released by the City of Baltimore in August, along with a formal response.

The report made clear that to improve public safety in Baltimore, the legacy of racism in policing must be confronted head-on.

The historical role that law enforcement played in maintaining slavery through slave patrols came up in multiple interviews, according to the report.

“It is obvious to many that Black and brown bodies have been historically viewed as a threat by law enforcement and, in society more broadly, less worthy of compassion in the wake of harm if worthy at all,” the report said in its first chapter. “These persistent attitudes undergird the web of disparities found throughout public life, including a sense of continued impunity for disparate or dehumanizing treatment from BPD.”

At a center event in February, former DOJ Inspector General Michael Bromwich, who led a two-year investigation into the Baltimore Police Department’s disgraced Gun Trace Task Force, presented his team’s findings. The video of the event had been viewed more than 11,000 times as of late October, no doubt thanks to “We Own This City,” the HBO series about the GTTF adapted from Baltimore crime reporter Justin Fenton’s book of the same name.

For years, members of the elite police unit robbed Baltimore residents and planted guns and drugs. They were arrested in 2017 and ultimately convicted on charges of racketeering, robbery, extortion and overtime fraud.

Saying the scandal was emblematic of deeper, systemic challenges in policing, Warnken says the CCJR will look into the role of judges and other key actors in responding to police misconduct.

“We’re really interested in the role of judges, who make decisions every day in their courtrooms — interpreting evidence and [determining] the truthfulness and reliability of officers — reliability that is often given great weight,” Warnken says.

The center is also involved in projects examining equity in public safety grantmaking, including how federal criminal justice grants are spent, Warnken adds.

“State and local governments get a tremendous amount of money from the Department of Justice and other federal agencies,” says Warnken. “Are they relying on police and prosecution, or are they meaningfully investing in community-based programs and alternatives to incarceration? There’s so much discretion at the state and local levels, but not enough support or transparency on how those dollars get spent.”

Benefactor Samuel Rose said in a University of Baltimore School of Law news release that the center would benefit reform efforts locally and nationally.

“It’s both exciting and gratifying to support efforts to improve the lives of individuals — the wrongly accused and the excessively punished — while working more broadly to influence local and national policy around violence prevention, mass incarceration, juvenile justice and more,” he said.

Dean Ronald Weich said the Center for Criminal Justice Reform was a logical outgrowth of the law school’s longstanding involvement in criminal justice matters.

“Some of the best defense lawyers are UB graduates, half of the state’s attorneys in Maryland are UB graduates,” Weich said. “This is a more comprehensive way of addressing issues related to criminal justice, from policing to sentencing to victims’ rights.”

And, he said, the law school is a perfect place for such a center.

“If you want to work on improving criminal justice, the University of Baltimore is the place to do it,” Weich says. “We are proud to support community-driven reform efforts in Baltimore and beyond.”

Hope Keller is a writer based in Connecticut.

Share this story with your network:

A grassroots approach to diversity

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Adam Stone

It’s easy to feel helpless when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. Big systemic changes are needed, institutional shifts that are outside most people’s job descriptions. Imoh Akpan, J.D. ’06, comes at it from another perspective.

“I take a grassroots approach to diversity,” he says. “It’s about being involved in volunteerism, being a mentor, being available to go to lunch. There’s a lot I can do as an individual to help diversify the legal profession.”

A partner in the Baltimore office of Goldberg Segalla, Akpan brings to bear this personal approach on a number of different fronts. He’s co-chair of the Diversity Committee of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, as well as a member of the Diversity Steering/Planning Committee of the Defense Research Institute. And he’s an active member of his firm’s diversity task force.

Akbar has also been active with the law school’s Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence, which prepares students from Maryland’s historically Black colleges for admission to law school and helps them to excel and thrive throughout their legal careers.

“Imoh has been a real champion of DEI, not only in academic circles with his leadership of the Fannie Angelos Program annual gala, but also in the legal profession, with his efforts to diversify law firms by improving their hiring and promotion practices,” says UBalt Law Professor Mike Higginbotham.

Akpan’s dad was a lawyer, as was his older sister. “I saw some of the struggles she faced as a Black woman trying to rise up in larger law firms,” he says. As he thought about how people might overcome similar challenges he evolved his grassroots approach to DEI, largely from his own personal experience.

A mentor who is now a partner at D.C. law firm Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell “made himself available to me on an individual basis. He kind of gave me very direct, targeted advice that applied to me. I could bounce ideas off of him,” Akpan says. That individual attention “helped me so much just by giving me context, perspective.”

Now he brings the same philosophy to his own DEI efforts. “I want to highlight the importance of those personal, individual interactions, particularly in building and promoting the network of diverse attorneys,” he says. “Having a connection with someone who has already done it before, getting advice from someone who has faced those challenges before. That can be invaluable.”

With his professional work and extensive efforts around diversity, not to mention a wife and two children, he’s got a pretty full plate. How to keep it all in balance? He says the key ingredient is passion.

“You can say it’s a scheduling thing, but to me it’s really an effort-and-energy thing,” Akpan says. “I like the job that I do. I obviously love my family. And the work that I do on diversity is important to me.

“If you like what you’re doing, it doesn’t actually seem as hard. You can find time for all of this, if what you’re doing is meaningful to you.”

Adam Stone is a writer based in Annapolis.

Share this story with your network:

In the wake of Scotus Dobbs decision, law students work for reproductive rights

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Adam Stone

Carita Tarter was working as a summer legal intern in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project when the Supreme Court negated the constitutional right to abortion with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. “Then it was like: We know what we have to do now,” she says. “Now it’s crunch time.”

Across the School of Law, students and school organizations have been on the front lines of the fight to preserve reproductive rights. Students say the June 2022 Dobbs decision has, if anything, put new energy into their efforts.

“I definitely feel disappointed and saddened, like the justice system has failed us. But it’s reassuring to work with other people who share a passion for this, who to be solution-oriented and to keep moving forward. It makes me hopeful,” says Tarter, a 3L.

Marcella Labellarte is in her second year of law school. Prior to attending UBalt Law, she worked for the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, where she helped formulate policy around reproductive rights. She says she’s feeling “very motivated” to continue that work in the wake of Dobbs.

“Now is the time for the legal profession to step it up and come to the aid of people who are seeking this care,” she says.

That might mean “representing people directly, in states where women are being criminalized. It might mean doing pro bono work, making sure they are properly represented,” Labellarte says.

Engagement by the legal community might include helping companies do the paperwork to shift their headquarters into states where female employees still have access to abortion. It could also include the kind of policy work that Labellarte was doing for the OB/GYN association.

“The ABA should be taking a very strong stance on this,” she says. “One of the most important parts of our system was just blatantly disregarded, and that cannot be ignored. Lawyers need to be out there saying, “We have a big problem with this, we think the Supreme Court got it wrong.’”

It’s not just law students who are working on the front lines of reproductive rights. The law school has long been active on these issues, for example through its Center on Applied Feminism.

Center co-directors Prof. Michele Gilman and Prof. Margaret Johnson serve as faculty advisors to If/When/How, the law students’ reproductive rights organization. “We’re supporting them in their activities, and we also have been organizing and will continue to organize educational events that explain and contextualize the recent decision by the Supreme Court,” says Johnson, who is director of the Bronfein Family Law Clinic and associate dean for experiential education.

“We held a teach-in at the end of the semester when the decision came down, and we’ll be holding an event this fall with different faculty members talking about the Dobbs decision based on their areas of expertise,” she adds.

In the family law clinic, Johnson works with students on policy and legislative initiatives in the area of reproductive justice. In the wake of Dobbs, she says, “They will be working with a coalition of policymakers and advocates to help get legislation passed in Maryland that provides more rights relating to abortion.”

The legal community should be all-in on its efforts to push back against Dobbs, Johnson says, adding the ruling could be used to undermine gay marriage, the right to contraception, and other rights as well.

“This is a structural issue,” she says. “We know that women were able to grow into professional roles in part because they controlled their contraception, their ability to conceive. If we take that away, it has a structural impact on who can enter the workplace. It’s an issue of gender justice.”

The abortion fight going forward likely will play out state by state, and much will come down to the ways in which the states formulate their specific laws. In Tarter’s view, that means the lawyers need to be engaged in the conversation at all levels.

“There are a lot of things lawyers can do outside the courtroom,” she says. “As part of the community, lawyers can talk about this — because talking about abortion is still taboo, people don’t want to face the issue. Doing your part as a lawyer also means bringing it up, speaking up about it.”

Tarter said that despite the Dobbs decision, she still feels positive about the prospects for reproductive rights. “There is a lot of hope,” she says. “In my generation, I’ve only known the right to abortion, and before that there was no right to abortion. So just because it’s not open for us right now, that doesn’t mean we can’t turn it around again.”

Adam Stone is a writer based in Annapolis.

Share this story with your network:

expanding access to homeownership

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Hope Keller

Wendi Redfern-Curtis, J.D. ’07, has worked in affordable housing development for 20 years, first in Baltimore City and now in Washington, D.C., where earlier this year she became senior vice president of single-family programs at the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency.

Redfern-Curtis now oversees several programs for current and potential homeowners that aim to expand access to home ownership in Washington.

The agency, part of the District of Columbia government, issues its own mortgages and helps buyers with down payments. In fiscal 2021, it issued more than 450 home loans worth approximately $130 million.

“I’m looking forward to making sure that our programs are speaking to the needs of individuals who are looking to plant their seeds by purchasing housing,” says Redfern-Curtis, calling home ownership a “wealth builder.”

Redfern-Curtis said that Washington’s housing market is more competitive than Baltimore’s – and that it can be especially difficult for lower-income people to afford a home there. “We have to make sure we are thoughtful about making sure people in certain income brackets have the opportunity also to have housing choice in a market that is thriving,” she says.

Redfern-Curtis started working for the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development in 2002, after graduating from the University of Baltimore with a B.A. in jurisprudence. She stayed with the department throughout four years of attending law school at night, and, by 2017, had risen to deputy commissioner in the Land Resources Division.

Redfern-Curtis says her legal education prepared her well for her career.

“It had an on-the-ground application every day,” says Redfern-Curtis, who cited real estate classes with Michele Gilligan, now professor emerita, and constitutional law with Prof. Michael Higginbotham as formative experiences.

“Constitutional law was very impactful,” she says, explaining that her work for the city involved condemning properties, or using the governmental power of eminent domain. “Mike Higginbotham had a huge impact on my life.”

One of the biggest projects Redfern-Curtis worked on in Baltimore was Vacants to Value, a program launched in 2010 by then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to address a rising number of vacant buildings, often with absentee landlords.

While Vacants to Value was criticized for being unable to outpace the growth in citywide vacancies, Redfern-Curtis is proud of the work that was accomplished.

“I really feel it was a successful program,” she says. “We were able to abate thousands of vacant properties by getting people to rehabilitate properties and getting people to invest in Baltimore, using full-block outcome strategies.”

Regina Hammond, founder and executive director of the ReBUILD Johnston Square organization, praises Redfern-Curtis and calls her “a listener.”

“I always got good advice and guidance from her,” says Hammond, who met Redfern-Curtis when the latter represented the Department of Housing and Community Development in the rehabilitation of the Johnston Square neighborhood in east Baltimore.

When Redfern-Curtis later spent three years in the private sector, as chief operating officer for ReBUILD Metro Inc., she continued to work with Hammond on the Johnston Square project.

“She wouldn’t say a lot, she’d just sit back and listen to all sides of the issue and then just come out with this profound statement or guideline,” Hammond says. “Anything she can do to help you or guide you, she will do that.”

Hope Keller is a writer based in Connecticut.

Share this story with your network:

Practicing Law with Compassion

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Features, Features 2022

By Tina Collins

For as long as he could remember, Saad Malik, J.D. ’19, envisioned a life in medicine. Then fate intervened. At the orientation for a high school internship, a Muslim American physician noted that at that time, Muslim Americans represented 1 percent of the American population but made up 10 to 15 percent of American physicians.

“The statistic was presented as a point of pride, but I took it as a lack of diversification of Muslims in the American workforce,” Malik says. The need for better representation sparked a new vision: “I wanted to be an educated and credentialed voice for my community,” he says.

Malik found his niche in law school, where he served as a member of the Honor Board and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA).  His favorite classes were Evidence, with Prof. David Jaros, and Federal Courts, with Prof. Kim Wehle. “Both had a way to challenge the way we approach legal concepts. They allowed and encouraged active participation and discussion, which made grasping some of the more abstract concepts a bit easier,” he says.

As a law clerk for The Hon. Lawrence Fletcher-Hill in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Malik was introduced to the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) and embraced its vision of “a fair legal system that is free of injustice and equitably serves underrepresented Marylanders.”

Before transitioning to corporate law, Saad practiced civil defense litigation. COVID’s uncertain effect on the courts presented another opportunity for him to reevaluate his career. He recently joined Gordon Feinblatt as an associate in the real estate and EMERGE practice groups.  

Malik’s knack for adapting started as a child who spoke Urdu at home and English at school. Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi, Malik easily finds connections among people, cultures, work life and personal life. He sees inspiration all around him, from his father’s work ethic as he established a new home in 1980s America, to his wife’s commitment to her patients as a resident physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

He applies creativity and inclusiveness to his volunteer activities as well. He partnered with the Baltimore County Public Library to create monthly pop-up legal clinics that offer free, practical legal advice. He also chairs the risk management committee of the Islamic Society of Baltimore, which is responsible for determining financial, safety and security risks for the organization.

A self-avowed foodie and a sports fan, Malik also manages to find time to be an avid weightlifter. “Discipline is the key,” he says. “It is not so easy, at times, but I found that having a well-organized and comprehensive calendar can do wonders!”

Malik knows a balanced life, like a career in law, is always evolving and teaching new lessons. “What has prepared me is having excellent mentors along the way,” he says. He looks back on his time at UBalt Law with joy and gratitude. “I have truly enjoyed learning from some of the best legal minds in Maryland,” he says, “and taken a bit from each of my mentors to apply to my day-to-day practice.”  

Tina Collins is a writer based in Baltimore.

Share this story with your network:

Thinking globally, acting locally

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Mortimer “Tim” Sellers

In spring 2022, Prof. James Maxeiner was elected by his colleagues to the rank of Professor Emeritus at the University of Baltimore School of Law, in recognition of his global prominence as a scholar of comparative law, commercial law and the reform of legal institutions in the common law world.

Maxeiner has taught at the University of Baltimore since 2004, lecturing on Contracts, Comparative Law, European Union Law, International Business Transactions and Sales Law. He dedicated particular attention to the happiness and well-being of his students, devoting countless hours to advising and guiding their careers. This thoughtful dedication to students, and willingness to share so much of his time and the fruits of his professional and academic experience, has been an inspiration to colleagues and to the many beneficiaries of his kindness, who learned from his example not just the directly practical aspects of the law, but also the idealism and commitment to others that make the law worthwhile.

Supporting the personal and sometimes underappreciated commitment to students at the heart of legal education, Maxeiner possessed the learning, judgment and insistence on high standards that makes legal education useful not just to students, but to practitioners and to the world. Achievements in this area are more obvious, and in Maxeiner’s case, inspiring.

While at the law school, Maxeiner published well-received volumes with Cambridge University Press on American Methods of Lawmaking (2018) and on American Civil Justice (2011). He also published a detailed analysis of American Legal Education (2007) and 65 articles on legal subjects, with a wide readership and a vast influence.

As co-editor of the book series Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, Maxeiner has made a deep and lasting contribution to law and the legal profession. This Springer Verlag book series, which publishes its 100th volume in 2022, has become a primary locus for global scholarship on comparative law.

Maxeiner’s status as a leading practitioner and critic of the American legal profession has been recognized by election to the American Law Institute, and his global prominence as a scholar by election to the International Academy of Comparative Law in Paris. He has also been an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow and a Fellow of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg.

Maxeiner has been distinguished and exemplary in his learning, his scholarship, his teaching, his mentoring, and his years of service to the University of Baltimore, the School of Law, the Center for International and Comparative Law, the American Society of Comparative Law, and the legal profession in general.

He will be much missed by his colleagues and students.

Mortimer “Tim” Sellers is a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Share this story with your network:

The People’s Prosecutor

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Features, Features 2022

How Anne Colt Leitess put the Capital Gazette killer behind bars

By Christianna McCausland

There is a scale model of the Capital Gazette newsroom in the office of Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess, J.D. ’88. It was made for her by the FBI during the sanity trial of Jarrod Ramos, the man convicted of murdering five staffers at the newspaper in 2019. Even now, more than a year after Ramos lost his Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) bid in July 2021, Leitess can lean over that model, about the size of a ping-pong table, and transport you into its scene.

She shows you where he entered, how he tactically blocked the exit Gazette employees could use to escape, where he stashed his belongings. Then she takes you step by step through his movements inside the office, as he gunned down five people before lying face-down on the floor to await the arrival of police.

Her retelling is so chilling it can raise the hair on your neck. This is her gift.

“In this job, juries can sense B.S.,” says David Putzi, a former prosecutor who worked with Leitess for four years before becoming a criminal defense attorney, now with the firm of Fisher & Putzi, P.A.

“When someone presents to a jury with sincerity—and you add a good hand of facts to that—it becomes an almost insurmountable thing for the defense. That’s how I find Anne. Juries appreciate how she comes at them, by being who she is.”

Steven Grossman, professor of law emeritus, taught Leitess at UBalt Law and coached her trial advocacy team. He’s followed her career ever since. “I could see right away that she had a real talent for being a trial attorney,” he recalls. “She knew how to tell a story, which is very important with a jury, and she could develop a rapport with the listener and present the case in a way the listener could understand.”

The Ramos case was right in Leitess’ wheelhouse. From the time she was 15 and took a field trip to a federal courthouse and saw trials in action, she knew she wanted to be a prosecutor. It’s part of the reason she chose UBalt Law: its close connection with local employers and reputation for helping students get jobs. Leitess was a law clerk in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and got her first job there in 1988.

“I wanted to represent people in crisis, in peril,” says Leitess. “Homicide is my forte. I like homicide because the victims can’t speak for themselves. We’re working on behalf of the families.”

In 1990, Leitess became a prosecutor in Anne Arundel County. In 1998, she led the prosecution in the retrial of Scotland Williams for the murder of two attorneys in their Annapolis home. It was the first case to introduced mitochondrial DNA evidence in Maryland, which helped Leitess secure a conviction. She jokes that you know you’ve made it when the courtroom artist does your drawing. The Williams trial was the making of her.

In 2013 she became the interim state’s attorney when her boss retired. She lost in the election, so she went back to Baltimore, where she led a Special Victims Unit working on sexual assault and child homicide cases.

“I cried for every child,” she says. “What was always so shocking to me was the number of people who could have intervened but did nothing.

“The way I deal with that,” she continues, “is not letting any stone go unturned, and to make sure someone is held accountable.”

NO HIDDEN AGENDAS

Leitess has a reputation as a dogged prosecutor. Just speaking with her is an intense exercise. She talks quickly and steadily, with an air of unquestionable authority. One can only imagine what it would be like to be a defendant or jury in her laser-sharp sights.

Yet, despite her capacity to relentlessly pursue a case to the mat, she is also known for being selective in the cases she takes and giving people second chances.

“Anne is an extremely fair individual,” says Putzi. “When Anne believes a victim has been wronged, she’s extremely aggressive to right that wrong. Likewise, if she believes justice is better served with a case not being prosecuted, she will do that as well.

“She goes where the evidence leads here. She’s very forthright. There are no hidden agendas with Anne.”

Grossman says her balance has always impressed him.

“She could always distinguish between the serious cases and the cases in which you could give someone a break, when you didn’t want to make them a lifetime criminal,” says Grossman.

“People want the prosecutor’s office to be the bludgeon on their behalf,” says Leitess. “But we cannot blow with the prevailing winds. Prosecutors have to also look out for defendants’ rights. That’s where justice is served.”

The Ramos case was one she never thought she would have; it was going to be tried by the prior state’s attorney, as Leitess was in a bid for the elected office in 2018. Yet in 2019 she took ownership of the case. When she found out Ramos intended to plead insanity to get a lifetime sentence in a hospital, she was having none of it.

“There was absolutely no way I was going to allow Jarrod Ramos to make a farce of the legal system and be declared not criminally responsible,” she states.

A lesson Leitess learned working in the sex offense unit, which relies heavily on victim testimony, was to treat those cases like a homicide—you look for all the other evidence to help corroborate the crime. That’s what she did with the Ramos case.

“Not only do I prove my case, I try to disprove their case,” she states.

Enter the FBI model. And reams of evidence compiled by Leitess and her team that painted the portrait of a man who took meticulous care of his aging cat, got the oil changed in his car, and paid his rent on time. Even the fact that he put down his arms and waited in supplication for police—most mass shooters kill themselves or are shot by police—indicated a man who wanted a long, comfortable incarceration. In short, a sane man who did an insane thing. Which is exactly what the jury found in Leitess’ favor, and sentenced Ramos to five consecutive life terms.

After the trial, Leitess says she slept for 12 hours straight. She went to a legal conference the next weekend, which she found “relaxing.” She says people always ask what she’s going to do next, but the truth is she’s doing it now, and she was re-elected without opposition earlier this year.

“I hope to try one to two cases a year, especially cold cases,” she says. “I love this job.”

Christianna McCausland is a writer based in Baltimore.

Share this story with your network:

Legal cannabis as a tool for social equity

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Juan Soto in Features, Features 2022

By Christianna McCausland

In the November midterm election, Marylanders voted to legalize recreational cannabis in the state. Starting in July 2023, Marylanders 21 and over will be able to legally possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana and grow two plants at home.

Maryland will join 20 other states (as of this writing) and the District of Columbia in having legalized recreational cannabis use. In her fight to see the referendum succeed, Alex Hughes, J.D. ’09, made sure the ballot measure wasn’t overshadowed by the top ticket races for governor, comptroller and the like. Hughes was co-manager, with former Ravens player Eugene Monroe, of the campaign “Yes on 4,” which leveraged social media and text marketing to encourage voter turnout in November.

Hughes explains that her passion for cannabis legalization goes back to the nearly 15 years she spent working on criminal justice policy and seeing firsthand the impacts that low-level drug charges can have on people’s lives.

“What we know is that legalizing cannabis frees up public-safety resources to focus on more violent crime,” says Hughes. “In states that have legalized, simple-possession arrests are down over 70 percent. We also know that there are people who need access to medical cannabis that can’t get easy access because of bureaucratic red tape. Passing Question 4 will help mitigate these problems.”

But the devilish details have yet to be dealt with, and much of that work would be punted into 2023. Identical House and Senate bills, HB 837 and SB 833, will now go into effect, though not until January 1, 2023, when the state will start regulatory wrangling in advance of the July deadline.

The collective bills outline the amount of cannabis that can be legally possessed, but they also detail fines for public smoking, call for the creation of a Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council, and provide for those previously convicted of cannabis-only possession to have their criminal records expunged.

‘AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REPARATIONS’

Importantly, the bills attempt to address social equity problems that have dogged the state’s medical cannabis rollout. A Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund would provide money to communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition, and a Cannabis Assistance Fund would help small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses enter the adult-use cannabis industry.

State Sen. Jill P. Carter, J.D. ’93, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, has been outspoken in her calls for social justice and equity in the state’s legalization efforts. She points to research conducted in 2020 by the ACLU that indicates that 50 percent of the drug arrests in Maryland were for marijuana, and that Black people make up 92 percent of those arrested — even though numerous data sources report that Black people and white people use marijuana at the same rate.

“It is imperative that we legalize cannabis, ensure economic opportunities for individuals criminalized during prohibition, and reinvest in impacted communities,” Carter says. “Legalization creates an opportunity for reparations.” 

The particulars of the law, however, have yet to be worked out. “The state is setting up a brand-new field, and I think they’ve done a pretty good job of addressing potential issues in a serious and thoughtful way,” says Alan Nemeth, adjunct professor at Baltimore Law. Nemeth developed and teaches the law school’s first course in marijuana law.

Still, Nemeth says, watching the regulatory piece unfold will be interesting. How, for example, will the Cannabis Assistance Fund decide who gets grant money, and how much? What impact will recreational legalization have on Maryland’s existing medical cannabis laws? And the practicalities of executing criminal record expungement — which means sorting through decades of paper files — could create a bureaucratic juggernaut.

“There will be automatic expungement for cannabis possession-only cases prior to July 2023, but how will jurisdictions make that happen? Will they set up cannabis courts to speed up resentencing efforts without bogging down the rest of the court system? Or they could set up a task force at the jurisdiction level,” says Nemeth. “Parsing all that out will take a while.”

LEGAL QUESTIONS REMAIN

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, J.D. ’84, agrees that expungement is going to be both a Herculean task and one that, as of now, has not been worked out in the detail it deserves. Shellenberger, a Democrat, has heard both sides of the cannabis debate and says he will abide by whatever the voters decide. But he, too, has questions about what will happen in 2023.

“What remains unanswered are things like where it will be sold, and regulations for smoking in a car,” says Shellenberger. “If I’m driving and my friend is drinking a beer, I’m not drunk, but what if that friend is smoking cannabis in the car? Marijuana stays in the system longer [than alcohol]. What does that mean for impaired driving?”

Shellenberger notes that states with legal recreational cannabis have seen spikes in car accidents. Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed a 6 percent increase in injury crash rates and a 4 percent increase in fatal crashes in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington immediately after their legalization, though whether cannabis alone played a pivotal factor is not clear from the reporting.

What is clear is that Maryland’s medical marijuana industry has disproportionately left out minorities from a business that cultivates as much as $500 million in profits a year. Shellenberger wonders what’s to stop that happening again.

“The legislature has expressed that the easiest way is to let the medical cannabis people get the recreational licenses, but there’s already a lack of minority representation in the medical cannabis field,” he says. “Do we simply let the medical people become the recreational people?”

These are issues Carter had hoped to avoid. In a March 2022 tweet she stated, “Legalizing cannabis without addressing the centuries of injustice committed against Black and brown communities concedes to exploitation and perpetuates systemic racism. Passing empty policy to secure an electoral victory will adversely impact the most vulnerable communities.”

Her now-defunct bill, SB692, named the Cannabis Legalization and Reparations for the War on Drugs Act, would have legalized recreational cannabis (up to four ounces) starting in July 2022. It also allocated 60 percent of revenue from legalized cannabis directly to impacted communities through the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund. While the senator was able to amend the other two bills to include portions of this fund, both only allocate 30 percent of monies.

Now, many of Carter’s priorities have to wait until next year. “We made significant strides towards legalization last session, but still have much to accomplish,” Carter states in an email.

“People are going to smoke regardless of whether this referendum passes,” Carter says, ahead of the November election. “It is safer for both the consumer and the community if it’s legalized… It’s time we move away from antiquated ideas and embrace a 21st-century economy and justice system.” 

Christianna McCausland is a writer based in Baltimore.

Share this story with your network:

A PASSION FOR GIVING BACK

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Features, Features 2022

By Adam Stone

For Pooja Shivangi Amin, J.D. ’07, joining the UB Law Alumni Association board means that even though she lives some 1,400 miles way — in Houston, Tex. — she can still give back to the institution that gave her a strong start in her legal career.

“I’m not the only alumna who lives outside of the state. I hope I can build on my own experience to find ways for us to connect with other alumni, so we can all further the mission of the law school,” she says.

Amin recently accepted an opportunity of a lifetime that combines her passion to help those in need and make an impact in her community. Amin serves as the general counsel at one of the largest grant makers in Houston, the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Greater Houston Community Foundation partners with individuals, businesses and foundations to receive charitable donations; manage philanthropic assets; provide donors with programming, advising and educational opportunities; and make grants through a variety of diverse platforms, including donor advised funds.

Pooja Amin

The Foundation has distributed over $2 billion in grants at the direction of its donors since its inception in 1995. In addition to grantmaking, the Foundation provides leadership in addressing vital community needs, such as critical disaster relief and recovery efforts, among others.

Amin has always found a way to dedicate her time to aid those in need. Prior to joining Greater Houston Community Foundation, Amin not only served as associate general counsel of litigation at CenterPoint Energy, she also spearheaded the company’s pro bono program – in collaboration with the Juvenile and Children’s Advocacy Project of Texas, and Houston Volunteer Lawyers — to help seal felony and misdemeanor records of juvenile offenders.

“Having their records sealed means these individuals can secure public housing, they can enlist in the military, get a job, or go to college. The opportunities are endless once they have their juvenile record sealed —which should have been done earlier on, when they were younger,” she says. “Often, these young individuals either weren’t aware of the sealing opportunity, or someone just missed a step. We wanted to make sure a mistake made when they were younger doesn’t haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

Before she left the company, Amin also chaired CenterPoint Energy’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council. “My passion to help others didn’t just happen overnight. I’ve been trying to raise awareness about diversity, equity and inclusion throughout my life,” she says. While in law school, Amin served as president of the International Law Society and editor of the international law journal, as well as helped organize the school’s Africa Symposium, which celebrated the diversity of students from the continent and created a forum to discuss critical issues related to health, human rights and commerce.

“I’ve been very fortunate to find ways to make an impact, and my new role as the general counsel at Greater Houston Community Foundation marks another evolution of all these passions and interests,” Amin says. She always keeps her favorite quote in mind from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as her motto: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

As she sets out to fulfill her role on the law school alumni board, Amin will continue to pursue those passions, while also looking to bolster the career readiness of up-and-coming lawyers.

“I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to put these new law graduates in the best possible position to advance their careers,” she says. “I’m excited to serve on the board’s career-development committee because I believe it’s important that students, before they graduate, have access to the professional tools they need to land a job.”

Adam Stone is a writer based in Annapolis.

SHARE THIS STORY WITH YOUR NETWORK:

Lawyer, Aviation expert pilots drone regulation – and a new course

Posted on November 11, 2022September 10, 2024 by Jason Keller in Features, Features 2022

By Adam Stone

A mentor once taught Timothy Tenne, J.D. ’19, the “yellow sticky” test. Give three people a yellow sticky and ask them what’s most important about it.

The pilot, thinking functionally, will merely note that it sticks. The engineer might describe the chemical makeup. The lawyer will come at it from a completely different angle. “That person will explain how it came about. They’ll give you everything from the liability to the contract that was used to buy the thing,” Tenne says.

Despite a ridiculously well-rounded CV, Tenne was missing that crucial point of view. And so he went back to school at the age of 47, earning his J.D. from UBalt Law in 2019. Today, as the newly hired CEO of the North American market for Nordic Unmanned, a Norwegian autonomous-drone manufacturing company, he’s putting that legal education to work.

A renaissance man

It’s fair to call Tenne a renaissance man. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served for 20 years in the Air Force. Along the way he picked up three (yes, three) master’s degrees, from George Washington University (organizational management); Webster University (an MBA in business administration) and from the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College (master’s with a focus on strategy and international relations).

His professional and personal activities are similarly diverse. In addition to helping Nordic Unmanned expand its market in North America, Towson-based Tenne is also founder of T3 Ideas, where he serves as a consultant to the aviation industry. And he’s a certified flight instructor.

Tenne is busy outside the office too. He volunteers as a “Blue and Gold Officer” at the Naval Academy — a cadre of graduates who help to vet incoming candidates. “I consider that one of my top honors,” he says. “The Academy gets about 40,000 applications for 1,200 spots, and that Blue and Gold interview can really push you over the top with the admissions board.”

A competitive runner, he also has a side business organizing running-community events, like the annual Annapolis Run for the Lighthouse half-marathon, benefiting the homeless. “Most of the companies that put on running events are event planners, but that’s just one aspect,” Tenne says. “In a running event, the timing of everything has to be perfect. As a runner myself, I understand the importance of paying attention to the details.”

UBalt Law alumna Lisa Sparks, J.D. ’07, has helped Tenne in his running-event business. “So many lawyers are runners, and it makes sense: it’s a competitive, self-reliant sport,” she says. “After getting to know me as his professor and learning that I was a runner, Tim thought I’d be a good fit for race timing — and he was right. 

“Timing and managing a race is a lot like trying a case: the prep is more than the event itself, you’re on alert with high adrenaline the whole time, and there is a lot of thinking on your feet and dealing with issues as they arise.

“Tim’s a classic UB evening student,” she says, “successfully marrying his legal education with a lifetime of work experience to upgrade his career path.”

With all that under his belt, Tenne has turned his attention lately to the legal aspects of unmanned-aerial operations. He’s known as one of the founding voices in the effort to promulgate drone regulations.

The regulatory landscape

Before joining Nordic Unmanned in August, Tenne was COO of Easy Aerial, which makes commercial and military-grade unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, that can effectively fly themselves. In that role, he learned that present-day regulation presents all kinds of hurdles.

“The regulations right now say that you have to have a human operator for your drone, and a human visual observer to look and see your drone while you’re operating it,” he says. Under current regulations, full autonomy is not possible.

With his law degree in hand, Tenne is working to help shift that regulatory landscape, advocating for change through his involvement in FAA working groups as they go through the public rulemaking process. He is also teaching a new course in Drone Law this spring at UBalt Law.

“The FAA has the aviation rulemaking committee, which operates under a very unique federal-agency mandate. Congressional authorization allows FAA to partner with industry at the onset to create new regulation, which is great,” he says. For example, collaborative efforts led FAA to authorize commercial drone operations for small unmanned systems, below 55 pounds, relatively quickly.

“Right now, the FAA is meeting on what the new rules are going to be for operations beyond visual line of sight, so that we can get true autonomy,” Tenne says.

His experience has taken him deep inside the mechanics of government regulation, giving him insight that he says could be applicable to attorneys in a range of regulated areas — from transportation to pharmaceuticals to the environment.

His advice? “The American Bar Association has a committee called regulatory administrative law. That would be my first stop,” he says. “Then there are 50 to 100 subcommittees underneath that. Those are great places where subject matter experts come together to collaborate and to help advocate. For a young attorney coming out of law school, that’s a great place to start building your experience.”

Adam Stone is a writer based in Annapolis.