Tag: legalresearch

New Maryland laws take effect on October 1, 2015!  We will be publishing a series of posts highlighting a few of the newly enacted laws.  This series is just a small sampling of the new laws enacted by the 2015 Legislative Session.  To read about more laws resulting from the 2015 session, see the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) of the General Assembly of Maryland. For a full listing of new laws effective October 1, 2015, check out this publication from DLS.

Senate Bill 456 (Chapter 351) – A court must “dismiss a criminal charge, in a prosecution for possession of marijuana or for possession of paraphernalia related to marijuana, if the court finds that a person used or possessed marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia because of a medical necessity.” You can learn more about this new law, including its legislative history, here.

Don’t forget, bills that are passed by the Maryland General Assembly do not always become Maryland Law. For example, Senate Bill 517, which calls for, among other things, the repeal of “the criminal prohibition on possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia and eliminates any penalty”, was vetoed by the Governor on policy grounds. Since this veto occurred after the Maryland Legislature adjourned, an override vote will not occur until the next legislative session commences. To learn more about the Maryland legislative process, check out this blog post on statutes.

In addition, the 2014 Legislative Session made changes to Maryland laws related to marijuana. Check out our 2014 post to learn more!
Note that all quotations, unless noted otherwise, are attributable to the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services of the General Assembly of Maryland, which is available online at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/Pubs/LegisLegal/2015rs-90-day-report.pdf.

New Maryland laws take effect on October 1, 2015!  We will be publishing a series of posts highlighting a few of the newly enacted laws.  This series is just a small sampling of the new laws enacted by the 2015 Legislative Session.  To read about more laws resulting from the 2015 session, see the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) of the General Assembly of Maryland. For a full listing of new laws effective October 1, 2015, check out this publication from DLS.

Maryland Second Chance Act of 2015 – House Bill 244 (Chapter 0313) – This new law authorizes “a person to petition the court to shield court records and police records relating to shieldable convictions no earlier than 3 years after the person satisfies the sentence or sentences imposed for all convictions for which shielding is requested”, however, “if a person is convicted of a new crime during a specified time period, the original conviction or convictions are not eligible for shielding unless the new conviction becomes eligible for shielding.” You can learn more about this new law, including its legislative history, here.

What is shielding? Shielding means making “a court record and police record relating to a conviction of a crime inaccessible by members of the public. Also, the Maryland Judiciary Case Search may not in any way refer to the existence of specific records shielded in accordance with the bill.”

What’s the difference between shielding and expungement? When a record has been expunged, it has been totally deleted from the court system and other places where the record is held, such as the Police Department, Archives, and State’s Attorney’s office. However, when a record is shielded, it means that the public cannot view the record; however, the record still exists.

To learn more about public access to court records, check out these Maryland Judiciary Publications. Don’t forget, the Law Library is always available to assist your with your legal research, including locating referrals.

Note that all quotations, unless noted otherwise, are attributable to the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services of the General Assembly of Maryland, which is available online at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/Pubs/LegisLegal/2015rs-90-day-report.pdf.

New Maryland laws take effect on October 1, 2015!  We will be publishing a series of posts highlighting a few of the newly enacted laws.  This series is just a small sampling of the new laws enacted by the 2015 Legislative Session.  To read about more laws resulting from the 2015 session, see the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) of the General Assembly of Maryland. For a full listing of new laws effective October 1, 2015, check out this publication from DLS.

Senate Bill 651 (Chapter 0374) /House Bill 124 – Eligibility for expungement has been expanded to include “persons convicted of a crime where the act on which the conviction was based is no longer a crime.” You can learn more about this new law, including its legislative history, here.

House Bill 304 (Chapter 0314)- Eligibility for expungement generally does not include a petition based on the entry of probation before judgment, “except a probation before judgment for a crime where the act on which the conviction is based is no longer a crime, and the person is a defendant in a pending criminal proceeding or was convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation or a crime where the act on which the conviction is based is no longer a crime within three years after the entry of the probation before judgment.” You can learn more about this new law, including its legislative history, here.

House Bill 131 (Chapter 0069) – For criminal charges that were transferred to juvenile court, the petition for expungement must be filed in the court of original jurisdiction where the order for transfer was entered. You can learn more about this new law, including its legislative history, here.

To learn more about expungement and expungement resources, check out these articles on the Maryland People’s Law Library, our wiki page and our past blog post! In addition, the Maryland Courts website includes information on how to expunge your records.

Note that all quotations, unless noted otherwise, are attributable to the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2015 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services of the General Assembly of Maryland, which is available online at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/Pubs/LegisLegal/2015rs-90-day-report.pdf.

In connection with the Law Library’s celebration of Law Day, we will be publishing a series of eight posts that focus on the basics of the Maryland court system and legal research.

Statutes are the laws passed by legislative bodies and probably what most people visualize when they think about the law. Statutes are generally organized by subject in a set called a “code”. For example, you would generally find statutes about divorce laws in Maryland under the Family Law Article (subject) in the Code of Maryland (code). Don’t forget, statutes are only one of the three main sources of primary law (statutes, regulations and case law), and your legal research may not be complete if you only focus on relevant statutes.

Federal Statutes. The U.S. Congress is the U.S. federal government’s legislative body and derives its power to make laws from the United States Constitution. The U.S. Congress consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of Congress are directly elected by citizens of the United States. To learn more about the federal legislative process, check out this article, “How Our Laws Are Made”, available on Congress.gov.

Current U.S. statutes are organized by subject matter in the current U.S. Code, which is available online here. In addition, check out our earlier blog post here about Congress.gov, the official federal website for federal legislative information. Congress.gov is a great resources that provides members of the public with access to current and historic legislative information, including bill status, bill summaries and committee reports.

The Law Library’s print collection includes the West’s United States Code Annotated. (The annotations included in the print books by the editors include references to relevant cases, law review articles and other resources that may provide the legal researcher with useful research and related primary sources.) You can also read the annotated code in electronic format through the Law Library’s subscriptions to WestlawNext and LexisNexis.

Maryland Statutes. Maryland’s legislative body is the Maryland General Assembly, which is comprised of two chambers: the State Senate and the House of Delegates. The Maryland General Assembly meets for 90 calendar days each year, beginning on the second Wednesday of January, and special sessions may be called by the Governor or a petition by a majority of each house. More information about the Maryland legislative process is available here. Current Maryland statutes are organized by article (subject) in the Code of Maryland and available online here.

The Law Library’s print collection includes current and superseded copies of Michie’s Annotated Code of Maryland West’s Annotated Code of Maryland. (The annotations included in the print books by the editors include references to relevant cases, law review articles and other resources that may provide the legal researcher with useful research and related primary sources.) In addition, you can read the current annotated code in electronic format through the Law Library’s subscriptions to WestlawNext and LexisNexis.

Local Ordinances and Resolutions. Don’t forget local ordinances and resolutions! For example, if you live in Annapolis, your legal statutory research may need to include the Anne Arundel County Code as well as the Code of the City of Annapolis.

The legislative body for Anne Arundel County is the County Council, whose members are elected. The Anne Arundel County Council generally holds legislative session on the first and third Mondays of each month (excluding August) in Annapolis, Maryland and all sessions are open to the public. For more information, check out the County Council’s website. For those you who cannot attend the sessions in person, you may be able to view live webcasts.

The Annapolis City Council is the legislative body for the city of Annapolis, and its members include the Mayor of Annapolis and eight Aldermen and Alderwomen. Information regarding the City Council’s regular meetings, public access to agendas and television schedules are available here.

The Law Library’s print collection includes current and superseded copies of the Anne Arundel County Code and the Code of the City of Annapolis. In addition, the Law Library’s collection includes copies of the Anne Arundel County Council’s Proposed Bills, Final Bills, Resolutions and Schedules.

Stay tuned for the next post in our Law Day Series, which will provide an overview of the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings.