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In the Media: Candidates Vying For Judgeship; Law Enforcement Surge Against Street Gangs

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A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.

From the The City Paper: Eight Candidates Are Vying For Judgeship

"At the slew of candidate forums this campaign season, the ones for Circuit Court judge candidates have been the sparsely-attended opening acts to the headlining mayoral candidates. In making their bids to rule on everything from divorce settlements to homicide sentences to bail amounts, the state's highest trial court judges are struggling to be heard. Few Baltimore City residents know the judicial candidates they're being asked to elect or even why they are voting on judges at all. This year's race is oddly competitive and has stoked fiery debate, but the candidates do seem to agree on one thing: most voters come to the polls knowing little about them or the process.

“When they come up for re-election, the incumbent judges almost always win, some years facing little to no opposition. But not so this time around, and the campaigns are in play to prove it.

“City Councilman James Kraft and public defender Todd Oppenheim are vying to replace two of the six sitting judges, who have presented a united front for the status quo by running as a group. On April 26, the eight nonpartisan candidates will appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots to fill six spots on the bench.

“Baltimore's Circuit Court race is open to any five-year member of the Maryland State Bar Association, unlike the District and Appeals court judges, which are vetted before appointment by the governor's office, but do not appear on the ballot.”

Full Article

From the The Baltimore Sun: 16 Marylanders Arrested in Law Enforcement Surge Against Street Gangs

“Federal immigration agents arrested 16 Marylanders, most of them allegedly gang members, officials said, in a month-long enforcement surge named Project Shadowfire.

“The surge targeted international gangs. The Marylanders arrested were members of the violent Hispanic gangs MS-13, Eighteenth Street and Sureños, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in a news release about the arrests.

“Those arrested included a person in Cockeysville wanted for the rape of a minor, a person in Bethesda wanted for tampering with a witness, and a person in Wheaton wanted for attempted murder, the agency said. Officials did not name the 16 arrested in Maryland.

“More than 1,000 people were arrested throughout the country in the surge Feb. 15 to March 18, officials said. Agents targeted those involved in drug trafficking, human smuggling, sex trafficking, murder and racketeering.

“Homeland Security Investigations agents in Baltimore with Montgomery County Police also arrested a member of MS-13 wanted for conspiracy to commit murder in Boston. They arrested another member wanted for assault with a deadly weapon in Addison, Texas, officials said.

“The enforcement surge was part of an international initiative launched in 2005 to disrupt the gangs. Since then, agents working in Operation Community Shield have made more than 40,000 gang-related arrests and seized more than 8,000 guns, officials said.

“’These organizations find the vulnerable and the weak in our neighborhoods and exploit them for personal gain,’ said Andre Watson, the agent in charge of Baltimore for Homeland Security Investigations. ‘Targeting members and affiliates of these gangs will always be a top priority.’”

Full Article

From the The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore agencies bring aid to religious minorities in Middle East, as genocide is declared

“Archbishop William E. Lori, the leader of the Baltimore archdiocese's half-million Catholics, has counseled other leaders he's hosted in recent years from churches in Iraq and Syria, where Christians face the kind of persecution they haven't seen since the Ottoman Empire killed hundreds of thousands a century ago.

“They've told him about members of their flock who were beheaded. They've told him of others who were kidnapped and haven't been seen since. Even as one Syrian Catholic bishop sat with Lori in the archbishop's home, news arrived that militants were bombing his cathedral in the city of Aleppo.

"’The persecution of Christians and others is a source of great grief,’ Lori said in an interview. ‘We really need to pray for those people affected.’

“’The joy of Easter is not meant to mask suffering. It's meant to give hope to those who suffer, to bring hope to the hopeless,’ he added. ‘We can all be agents of the Resurrection.’

“As Easter dawns Sunday, Catholic Relief Services and other humanitarian relief agencies in Baltimore and across the U.S. will reach out to Christians and other religious minorities facing persecution in the Middle East. This month, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that Islamic State attacks on Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq constitute genocide.

“The agencies, including Lutheran World Relief, World Relief and International Orthodox Christian Charities — agencies headquartered in the Baltimore area for decades — have poured tens of millions in aid into the region since the Syrian civil war began five years ago. Working with churches, Christian schools and other organizations, they've provided emergency shelter, medical care and trauma counseling, clean water and "safe spaces" for children to play.

Officials with the organizations say the humane beliefs at the heart of their shared religion is what drives their complex, at times dangerous work.”

Full Article