Law Library Director for the Anne Arundel County Public Law Library
The Law Library, the Family Court Help Center, and the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County will be closed on January 1, 2024 for the New Year’s Holiday. The Law Library will reopen on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. Except on Court Holidays, the library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Happy New Year!
The Anne Arundel County Public Law Library and the Family Court Help Center will be closed on Monday, December 25, 2023.
The court will reopen on Tuesday, December 26, 2023. The Law Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm except for court holidays.
The Law Library, the Family Court Help Center, and the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County are closed today November 23, 2023 for the Thanksgiving Holiday and tomorrow, November 24, 2023, for Native American Heritage Day. The Law Library will reopen on Monday, November 27, 2023. Except on Court Holidays, the library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
This article, Congress Establishes Thanksgiving, at the National Archives website describes how Thanksgiving became a holiday.
November is National Native American Heritage month. Find out more here. President Biden’s Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month urges all Americans to celebrate November 24, 2023, as Native American Heritage Day.
The Maryland Civil Pattern Jury Instructions, 5th edition, have been updated with 2023 replacement pages. The updated instructions include “new instructions for Employment: Sexual Harassment (MPJI-Cv 22:11(B); revised instructions on Employment: Harassment–Generally (MPJI-Cv 22:11A) and Employment: Wrongful or Abuse Discharge (MPJI-Cv 22:2). Also included are updated and expanded commentary, new case law, and statutory references in instructions in the following chapters: Agency, Business Torts, Damages, Deceit, Intentional Interference with the Person, Negligence–General Concepts, Employment, Professional Liability, Maryland Constitutional Torts, and Workers Compensation.”
The new instructions can be found on the shelf (KFM1742.6 .M37 2017) and are also available online via Lexis in the law library and on Westlaw for court users.
The Anne Arundel County Public Law Library and the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County will be closed for Veterans Day, Friday, November 10, 2023.
Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I. In 1954, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day to honor veterans of all wars. Read more here.
Except on Court Holidays, the law Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. A list of Court Holidays is available on the Circuit Court’s website here.
Six Anne Arundel County attorneys and one title abstractor joined other Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) volunteers on November 2, 2023 at the Pascal Senior Activity Center in Glen Burnie to provide legal assistance at the Tangled Title Clinic. The clinic seeks to “to ensure that homeowners’ names are on the deed to their home so they can secure benefits like the Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit, water credits and access to home repair programs.” Having deed issues corrected will help in the estate planning process, too. Read this MVLS blogpost to find out more about the value of this program.
Volunteers Tony Christhilf, Carl Tenner, Tasnima Apol (chair of the Anne Arundel Local Pro Bono Committee), Michael Coburn and Merle Maffei helped to assist more than a dozen participants on questions about deeds. Bobby Dunleavy, a title abstractor, was on hand to assist with searching for land records online. I attended after recruiting our volunteers and was able to assist with the clinic registration.
Hon. Erica Griswold, the Register of Wills for Anne Arundel County and Erica Matthews, Outreach Coordinator for the office, attended and provided packets with information to assist in estate planning.
The clinic was presented in partnership with Arundel Community Development Services represented by Lisa Sarro, general counsel (Local Pro Bono Committee member) and Anne Arundel County’s Office of Equity and Human Rights with Asha Smith, Director in attendance., along with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service.
A recent email from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP) stated that:
The Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP) has recently become aware of some confusion about whether misdemeanors are eligible for the sentencing guidelines. To clarify, Maryland’s sentencing guidelines are not limited to felonies.
Generally, cases are guidelines-eligible and require a worksheet when the offense carries the possibility of incarceration—including misdemeanors and traffic offenses—and the case is either originally prosecuted in a circuit court or is the result of a jury trial prayer or an appeal from the District Court and a Pre-Sentence Investigation has been ordered. A full list of the types of sentencing scenarios that do and do not require a guidelines worksheet can be reviewed here.
The Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP) has issued a report An Assessment of Racial Differences in Maryland Guidelines-Eligible Sentencing Events. According to the MSCCSP announcement this report is the culmination of the MSCCSP’s analysis of race and sentencing which began in 2020 and its response to the DLS recommendation. It provides a descriptive analysis of racial and ethnic differences in Maryland sentencing for guidelines-eligible sentencing events in calendar years 2018 through 2020.
The Law Library is closed today, July 4, 2023, for the Independence Day holiday. The Law Library will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, July5. A list of Court Holidays is available on the Circuit Court’s website. Except on Court Holidays, the Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
In December and January, the Ask A Lawyer in the Library program provided legal advice to seventeen people. Thanks to volunteer attorneys, Steve Migdal, Jack Paltell, Saul McCormick, and Michele Manculich for providing this service to the public. In January we were happy to welcome new volunteer attorney, Patrice Clarke. Issues included student loan debt, landlord/tenant, expungement, estate planning and immigration.
The Ask a Lawyer in the Library program is a civil, non-family law, self-help program held every Wednesday, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and on the 3rd Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The program is sponsored by Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and hosted by the Anne Arundel County Public Library. You can talk with a volunteer attorney for at least 20 minutes. Registration is required. All sessions are held remotely via Zoom videoconferencing or phone. More information can be found here.
Do you have a family law matter? Family Law matters are best addressed by the Family Court Help Center.
Do you have a criminal case? The Office of the Public Defender provides legal services to eligible individuals. Information about representation in criminal cases can be found here.
AACPLL Blog: Law Library News 