The latest from Ben Conarck
Attorney hired by Maryland for Baltimore jail lawsuit withdraws after AI-generated filings
An attorney hired by Maryland to defend its corrections department over Baltimore jail conditions has resigned from the case after using ChatGPT.
Law firm defending Baltimore jail conditions faces sanctions over AI-generated filings
An Alabama courtroom scandal over using generative AI could have implications for decades-old lawsuit over Baltimore jail conditions.
What we know about 36 in-custody deaths auditors say should have been ruled homicides
The Banner attempted to reach relatives and attorneys associated with each of the 36 deaths that the audit found should have been ruled as homicides.
Their loved ones’ deaths at the hands of police may have been wrongfully classified. Now what?
The massive audit called for classifying at least 36 in-custody police deaths as homicides, re-opening old wounds and raising new questions in Maryland.
Here’s what you need to know about Maryland’s sweeping audit of police-custody deaths
The audit’s implications reach far beyond a finding of 36 wrongfully classified deaths.
Forensic failures: 36 police-custody deaths should have been ruled a homicide, audit finds
The yearslong audit cited racial and pro-police bias in the work of the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Baltimore County’s Police Accountability Board is having an identity crisis
The county established the Police Accountability Board three years ago after the General Assembly passed the Police Accountability Act in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police in 2021.
An exodus at Trump’s DOJ is threatening to unravel Baltimore’s federal police oversight
The wave of departures threatens to tilt the 8-year-old court case into dysfunction.
Baltimore’s homicide rate dropped to a historic low last month, defied racial trends
Baltimore ended April with five homicides, the lowest monthly total in recent memory.
UMMS demands state pay $4.6 million in prisoner health care debt
University of Maryland Medical System’s lawsuit could hinge on a legal debate over what qualifies as a state subcontractor.
Baltimore Police are recruiting a wave of new officers, but there’s one major problem
The Baltimore Police Department is now facing delays in getting trainees out on the streets due to its reliance on a state-owned firing range.
El Salvador won’t let Sen. Van Hollen visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia
The vice president of El Salvador denied Sen. Chris Van Hollen a face-to-face visit with a Maryland man wrongly deported last month.
A decade after Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore police still work to gain trust
In the decade since Gray’s arrest, Baltimore insists there has been a transformation in policing, but some residents aren’t so sure.
Maryland jails and prisons can’t keep track of their pills. Now the DEA is cracking down.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration visited two state jails last year and performed “accountability audits” that uncovered violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Maryland wants to address racial disparities in its prison system. Will Trump interfere?
Despite Maryland’s progressive reputation, the disparities in its criminal justice system are among the worst in the country.
City Council pressures police, mayor for a plan to address open-air drug markets
Baltimore is shifting its approach to fighting a burgeoning illicit drug trade, and the City Council is pressing police and Mayor Brandon Scott for a plan.
City, DOJ agree: Police transports of detainees have improved since Freddie Gray
City attorneys and the U.S. Department of Justice are asking a judge to narrow the scope of the Baltimore Police Department’s federal oversight.
With deteriorating fences, Maryland’s aging prisons struggle to secure their perimeters
Maintaining Maryland’s prison fences is estimated to cost the state $34 million every two years for the next 30 years.
Maryland prisons are awash in handmade weapons. Contraband recoveries more than tripled.
The state corrections department recorded a discovery rate for weapons in its facilities at about 13 per 100 prisoners and detainees.
Potential Medicaid cuts loom over partnership linking incarcerated people with health care
People leaving Maryland prisons and state-run Baltimore jails often do so with complex medical needs, ranging from substance use disorder, to hypertension and diabetes.