Martin O'Malley is getting some very bad press in his home state

[cali]

First of all he's the subject of an ethics investigation:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/31/omalley-furniture-purchases-from-governors-mansion-draw-scrutiny/
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-furniture-investigates-0830-20150905-story.html

And Marilyn Moseby is blaming his policies for violence in Baltimore

http://www.abc2news.com/news/crime-checker/baltimore-city-crime/marilyn-mosby-blames-martin-omalley-for-violence

I like O'Malley but I just don't think this is his time. He hasn't gained any ground over the summer.

[underthematrix]

1. The first article suggest a political motivation

Doesn't he have little kids? It seemes to me it would make sense to buy their furniture because children like familiar things.

The second claim I don't know enough about. But given the other article about 2000 cases where tools were used for conviction with the results of the tools not made available to the defense suggest a problem. A serious problem.

[elleng]

3. Thanks, underthematrix.

His children are young adults. See my post (#2) with his response to the allegation, SURELY politically motivated.

[elleng]

2. As to the 'ethics investigation,'

Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley said Sunday that he was “kind of surprised” by the recent controversy over his purchase of discounted furniture from the governor’s mansion, saying his family “followed the rules as they were laid out to us.”. .

Many of the pieces were at least eight years old, and they were discounted by administration officials to reflect their age. Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., O'Malley's predecessor, benefited from a similar arrangement. . .

Asked whether he thinks the price his family paid was fair, O’Malley said a check was cut for what the state’s Department of General Services determined was the furniture’s depreciated value.

“I know there was no negotiating of the price,” he said. “We were just told it was some sort of standard depreciation formula they had used for the prior family.”. .

When his family moved into the mansion in 2007, there was virtually no furniture in the living quarters, O’Malley said. He said it was furnished with a combination of pieces from his family’s old home in Baltimore and furniture choices they made from options presented by state officials. O’Malley said he recalled being told at the time that his family would have the opportunity to purchase items after he left office.

Shortly before Hogan took over, O’Malley’s wife explained the process to Hogan’s family during a visit to the mansion, O’Malley said.

“We followed the rules as they were laid out to us,” O’Malley said. “So I was kind of surprised eight months [after leaving office] that an issue was made of it.”

O’Malley said that if state officials want to change the rules, that is their prerogative. He said he suspects the issue has been raised now because he is running for president.

As to Mosby's alleged 'blaming' O'Malley policies, it's hardly firm enough to justify a headline, but, well, why the hell not?!

http://on.aol.com/video/marilyn-mosby-blames-martin-omalley-for-violence-519061926

[BooScout]

4. That sounds reasonable to me...

I suspect someone is just trying to invent another scandal about a Democrat.

[elleng]

5. Ditto, BooScout. Thanks.

'New' repug governor for one interested in inventing scandal, little doubt.

[Andy823]

10. Looks like some people are worried

This is really small potatoes, and it simply look like someone is worried that O'Malley might be gaining more momentum in the press, and thus in the eyes of voters. Petty BS if you ask me.

[bigtree]

6. meaningless hype

Mosely is trying to deflect blame onto O'Malley blaming 'distrust' of the police dept. for the wave of record killings and unrest over a decade since hie left the office of Mayor of Baltimore. Logic would tell you that a policy of arrests for petty crimes which ended in 2004 by court order doesn't have squat to do with people killing one another today, but it fits into a convenient narrative by activists. Little from Mosely about the successive administrations' responsibility for the state of crime and violence in the community, so it's a clear stretch to blame O'Malley who saw killings and other violent crime decline far lower than the national average when he held office there. Most reasonable people can see the disconnect in these charges, so...

Also, acting like a tiff over furniture from the O'Malley governor's private residence purchased after he left office is some important or significant scandal is as weak as the week-long story has proven so far. What do you think is going to happen? Little more than, perhaps, another check cut to the state from the O'Malleys.

read:

Good luck with anyone trying to make something out of this (mostly the usual republican and conservative opponents in my state).

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. $10,000.00 for eight year old furniture that cost $62,000.00 new.

That's around seventeen cents on the dollar...You are lucky to get ten cents on the dollar for eight year old furniture.

I don't see a scandal.

[Raine1967]

11. *ting*

It's not a scandal.

[Cheese Sandwich]

8. Well then she is right. And she isn't the only one to say so either. Many have warned us.

Example:

West Baltimore rep. Jill Carter discusses the roots of her city’s troubled history with police violence.

"Martin O'Malley was not just wrong, but savagely wrong on criminal justice issues."

I always say it wasn’t just a zero tolerance policy, it was a failed zero tolerance policy. It was a rogue zero tolerance policy. It was commonplace for law enforcement officers to plant a van at the top of a block and conduct a street sweep of everyone they saw outside. And the theory was the more people we arrest, the less crime because no one will be on the street. But what happened is that, at the same time that people were being arrested for virtually nothing, violent crime was able to continue and to expand because the real criminals knew there was no one there to pursue them. The police officers were rated on the number of arrests they made, and everything was stats-driven not people-driven. That really in large part created the culture that exists today.

There were a lot of people in the community, older people especially, who believed that, “Well, it's a good thing. We need to lock up these criminals.” But over time I've noticed a complete change because of the devastation that it's had on people. It's destroyed the ability of many young people to even lead productive lives. Because once that arrest record is there, many people believe, “Oh, it's just a conviction.” But actually no, it's an arrest record, as well, that employers don't really wait to see what the result is. They just say, “OK, you're charged with this crime, and we can find someone else.” The problem is that in Baltimore City, it's becoming more and more difficult to find anyone whatsoever under certain ages and zip codes that doesn't have a criminal record.

Martin O'Malley was not just wrong, but savagely wrong on criminal justice issues.

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/fault-lines/articles/2015/6/12/maryland-delegate-martin-omalley-savagely-wrong-on-criminal-justice.html

[bigtree]

12. false

"violent crime was able to continue and to expand because the real criminals knew there was no one there to pursue them"

Violent crime was reduced by over 40% during his term as mayor.


from WaPo article:

“What was positive was that there was zero-tolerance for criminals and drug dealers locking down neighborhoods and taking neighborhoods hostage,” said the Rev. Franklin Madison Reid, a Baltimore pastor. “Does that mean there was no down side? No. But the bottom line was that the city was in a lot stronger position as a city after he became mayor.”

Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the national NAACP who worked with O’Malley when Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, credited him for supporting a civilian review board as mayor and for a sharp drop in police shootings that occurred during that time. Jealous said O’Malley’s “mass incarceration” police strategy is “a separate issue” than police brutality, and “a conversation for a different day.”“It was a period where a lot of mayors were doing whatever they could to try to reduce crime,” Jealous said.

In fact, his police dept. changed the way incidents of police misconduct were reported and handled by establishing an active review board and a hotline for reporting police abuse or misconduct. Under his term there were over 100 'reverse integrity' stings of police conducted a year. They fully staffed the civilian review board including detectives on the board to investigate claims against police. They used technology to flag abusive officers who racked up complaints.

Also the numbers of arrests is skewed because it reflects repeat offenders, not new cases.

What was happening during his term was an effort to clear the open-air drug markets which had been plaguing black majority neighborhoods. As O'Malley said in a response today, if those had been white-majority communities, there would be no question of the swift and thorough response to drug-related crime and violence which threatened and cost black lives, many young black lives. I think he's correct in pointing out the 1000 black lives were actually saved by his police dept.'s focus on responding to and acting on the drug activity which was running rampant in Baltimore when he took office. The city had record deaths and record violent crime when he took office which saw a sharp reduction during his terms as mayor. During his time as governor, recidivism was cut significantly, and incarceration rates were actually REDUCED in his terms to 20 year lows; and voting rights were restored to 52,000 individuals with felonies.

That was a direct result of not only the heightened attention by the police to that drug activity, but also a result of a community policing effort, policing the police with increased accountability for police abuses, and a massive drug-treatment program which recovered many black lives in those communities.

He also closed the most violent prison in the city, ended the death penalty, signed decriminalization of small amounts of pot into law, and actually brought incarceration rates down during his stay in office. That says 'black lives matter,' at least to those black lives which were granted safe streets, prevention of violent crimes and killings and other opportunities to improve on their way of life.

I've lived in Maryland for 45 years. These issues aren't just abstractions to me, a political hammer to gain points on an internet message board or a political wedge for politician. and neither are they to other members of the black community who are affected by these issues. Those communities voted repeatedly for Martin O'Malley in overwhelming numbers throughout his several, successive roles serving in public service in Maryland. That's as much of an endorsement of his efforts as anything.

[Cheese Sandwich]

13. You are wrong. His policies escalated a reign of police terror against poor people in Baltimore

His policies led to tens of thousands of false arrests. The NAACP and ACLU had to join forces in a joint law suit to make him stop.

But of course you know that.

The NAACP and ACLU sued Martin O'Malley over thousands of illegal arrests

ACLU, NAACP File Class Action Lawsuit Over Illegal Arrests in Baltimore City; Propose Remedy Plan to Help Fix Rights Violations

MEDIA RELEASE: CONTACT:
June 15, 2006 Meredith Curtis, ACLU of Maryland
410-889-8555

Calling the Baltimore City Police Department’s pattern and practice of illegally arresting tens of
thousands of individuals each year who are not and cannot be prosecuted a gross violation of rights, the
American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and the NAACP today filed a class-action lawsuit
challenging the practice and offering concrete proposals for reform. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore City
Circuit Court, targets both city and state officials for their roles in making illegal arrests and mistreating
arrestees taken into custody at Central Booking.

Along with the legal filing, ACLU-MD, NAACP, and co-counsel Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP are
releasing a remedy plan to help ensure effective law enforcement for residents without violating their
rights.

“Despite the patently unconstitutional and illegal nature of this conduct and its detrimental effects on the
Baltimore residents whom the laws are supposed to protect, city officials have refused to end this practice,
and the rights violations are continuing in the state’s central booking facility,” said Deborah Jeon, Legal
Director of the ACLU of Maryland. “The time has come to rein in this abuse of power and stop these
unconstitutional and illegal acts. The ACLU and NAACP offer solutions and seek to work with the City
and State to remedy these serious violations of rights.”

Plaintiffs in the case include the State NAACP Conference, the City NAACP, and several individuals who
have had their rights violated when they were illegally arrested by Baltimore City police officers, detained
for as long as 54 hours, and then released without any charges being pursued against them.
“The NAACP is all for aggressive law enforcement,” said Jenkins Odoms, president of the Maryland
State Conference of NAACP Branches. “But last year nearly a third of the 76,000 individuals arrested in
Baltimore City – more than 25,000 people -- were released without charge. This is not effective law
enforcement.”

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP, said: “Innocent people
are getting caught in the dragnet and their arrest records will follow them for the rest of their lives. An arrest record seriously affects your ability to get jobs and housing, which already is a big challenge for so
many people here in the City of Baltimore.”

ACLU-MD and NAACP contend that under a pattern and practice set and enforced by city officials,
Baltimore police officers arrest individuals without probable cause, in violation of the U.S. Constitution
and the Maryland Declaration of Rights. To encourage this pattern and practice, the BCPD rewards
police officers who make more arrests and punishes officers who make fewer arrests, regardless of the
number or success of resulting prosecutions.

When State officials receive these arrestees for processing at Central Booking, they compound the
problem by conducting visual body cavity and strip searches of male arrestees without probable cause or
individualized suspicion that they are carrying weapons or contraband, which also violates the U.S.
Constitution and the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The strip searches are also conducted in front of
other detainees. In addition, the volume of arrests by the BCPD has caused Central Booking to detain
many arrestees beyond the statutory time limit of 24 hours before presentment or release, in overcrowded
and filthy conditions.

“These unconstitutional and wrongful acts degrade, humiliate, and cause grave harm to their victims,”
said Mitchell Karlan, partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP. “They suffer the humiliation of being
hauled away in handcuffs in front of friends, family, or neighbors. Then, they are released without
charges – often because the police had no right to arrest them in the first place.”
Defendants in the lawsuit include the State, State Corrections and Pretrial Detention officials, who run
Central Booking, as well as the City of Baltimore, City and Police officials.

Plaintiffs are represented by ACLU cooperating counsel Mitch Karlan, New York partner at Gibson,
Dunn & Crutcher LLP, along with D.C. partner Wayne Schrader and D.C. associates Daniel Cantu, Scott
Dodson, Jason Morrow and Jan Geht, and by ACLU-MD lawyers Deborah A. Jeon and David Rocah.
###

http://www.aclu-md.org/uploaded_files/0000/0199/pr-_naacp_v_bcpd.pdf

The Maryland American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a class action lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court Thursday alleging that Baltimore police systematically arrest people and hold them for hours without charge. The lawsuit - which names Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, present and past police officials, state corrections officials and individual police officers as defendants - also alleges that officials at the Maryland Central Booking and Intake Center often perform strip searches and body cavity searches on people arrested for minor offenses such as loitering, impeding or obstructing pedestrian traffic and disturbing the peace, as well as detain them in dirty and overcrowded jail cells.

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2006/06/aclu-naacp-sue-baltimore-police-over.php

[Cheese Sandwich]

9. "A lot of us know the real story of the harm he brought to our city" - Baltimore NAACP President

Last edited Mon Sep 7, 2015, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Although prosecutors declined to bring many of the cases, activists contend that those who were arrested often could not get their records expunged, making it harder for them to get jobs.

“We still have men who are suffering from it today,” said Marvin “Doc” Cheathem, a past president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, which won a court settlement stemming from the city’s policing policies. “The guy is good at talking, but a lot of us know the real story of the harm he brought to our city.”

Bishop Douglas Miles, a community leader, said O’Malley’s department “set the tone for how the police department in Baltimore has reacted to poor and African American communities since then.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/as-mayor-of-baltimore-omalleys-policing-strategy-sowed-mistrust/2015/04/25/af81178a-ea9d-11e4-9767-6276fc9b0ada_story.html