Coping With Unspeakable Loss (Part II)

The second in the Post's two-part series on the Erika Smith murder.

Coping With Unspeakable Loss

Kudos to the Washington Post for this: the first in a series of stories about a mother whose 9-year-old daughter was shot to death by a repeat offender at her father's house in Silver Spring (the girl's father was also killed in the attack).

The Post should be commended for focusing its reporting on a victim's mother, as opposed to a perpetrator that got one too many second chances and used his newfound freedom to break the law yet again.

Maybe if more stories like this get published then people will be motivated to seriously re-examine the criminal justice system in Maryland and in the nation and put pressure on their elected representatives to make serious changes.

Maryland: Land of Second Chances (Part II)

Twenty years ago, murder conviction in Prince George's County got this man locked up for life without parole. A technicality (coupled with early release credits) set him free after 17 years in prison. And last month, a complete waste of his newfound second chance ended up getting him killed in Washington, D.C.

The justice system works in weird ways sometimes, doesn't it?

Maryland: Land of Second Chances

First off, happy new year, everyone.

A few stories in the Baltimore Sun illustrate just how infuriating the justice system in Maryland can be. Recently, a man who had been sent to prison for life for a murder he committed in 1967 was released after he "remade himself". There's also the story of an 18-year-old who repeatedly violated his probation and went unpunished until he allegedly committed murder.

Not to be critical of the Sun or anything, but in both of these articles, the victims of these two men are barely given any copy. With that said, may Joseph Caslow and Alonzo Key rest in peace, although it's pretty clear that justice may never truly be served in their cases.

Carjacker in Silver Spring a Repeat Offender

The victim in this case was lucky, as was this guy's earlier victim, as were apparently all the motorists within striking distance of him during the times he drove drunk. Seems this perpetrator's had a good run of luck himself as far as the law goes.

Now the question is, when will his next second chance arrive? And will his next victim(s) be so lucky?

The Sarah Foxwell Case (And How it Relates to the J4S Cause)

By now, many of you have heard about this, since it has been gaining national attention: 30-year-old Thomas Leggs, Jr., a registered sex offender, has been arrested is accused of killing an 11-year-old Salisbury, Md., girl named Sarah Haley Foxwell.

Leggs has a rap sheet so long that it would take forever to go through the littany of cases that pop up in a search of the Maryland Judiciary Case web site. But his most serious and well-documented offenses appear to be that of the rape of a minor in Delaware and a third-degree sex offense case in Maryland that is as old as Sarah Foxwell was. That's right -- Leggs was registered as a sex offender in two states when he allegedly abducted Sarah Foxwell on Dec. 22 and then murdered her.

In Maryland we have Jessica's Law, which mandates minimum 25-year sentences for first-degree sex offenses involving children. But there's a problem, as has been noted by state Sen. Nancy Jacobs: even these supposedly mandatory sentences can be reduced through -- you guessed it -- early release credits.

The leader of a group called Citizens For Jesscia's Law in Maryland put it best in this editorial in yesterday's Washington Post:

"What in the hell is [Leggs] doing back out on the street, and what is he doing having contact with this child?"

Some things never change. Nine years ago, the late Elmer Spencer -- another convicted sex offender with a lengthy rap sheet -- was released from prison after serving just three and half years of a 10-year sentence for an attempted rape (early release credits played a role in his release). Less than a week later, he killed 9-year-old Christopher Ausherman in a baseball field dugout in Frederick.

By the way, here's something else you all should know. In 2006, Sen. Brian Frosh -- yes, the same Brian Frosh who has claimed that he supports tough sentences for violent offenders but won't commit to putting tougher early release credit laws to a vote in the General Assembly -- was one of three lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly who voted against Jessica's Law.

The Foxwell case continues to be investigated, so time will tell as to how and why Leggs was allowed to strike yet again despite being a registered sex offender. But how much more time will pass, and how many more innocent people will get hurt or killed, before our top lawmakers in Maryland decide that there's a problem with our criminal justice system?

What Goes On In Annapolis... Stays in Annapolis (At Least in Committee)

First, some good news... The Gaithersburg City Council announced that early release credit legislation in the General Assembly will be part of its State Legislative Agenda for the second year in a row, their support for it stemming from Shawn Henderson's murder of Lindsay Harvey.

The bad news, of course, is that Gaithersburg's endorsement means nothing unless top lawmakers allow a bill out of committee, and there is no indication that either chairman of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will do this in 2010. In fact, it's a pretty safe bet that they won't unless whatever changes we make are to their liking.

Meanwhile, an interesting editorial appeared in today's Washington Post. A state lawmaker who represents Montgomery County wants to pass legislation that require online publicizing of lawmaker's committee votes, but the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates is not convinced it's necessary (amazing, though not altogether surprising).

Floor votes by lawmakers are posted online, but committee votes are not. Such information must be obtained in a face-to-face manner.
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In other news, a year-old homicide in Damascus remains unsolved.