3 posts tagged “equality maryland”

The McFreeds share this tidbit...

Two stories about how Equality Maryland was designated a terrorist group by MD State Police.

From The Washington Post...

State Police Classified Gay Rights Group as 'Threat'

By Lisa Rein

Equality Maryland, the state's largest gay rights group, was among the peaceful protest groups to be classified as terrorists in a Maryland State Police database.

The group was designated a "security threat" by the Homeland Security and Intelligence Division, which also kept dossiers on dozens of activists and at least a dozen groups. Police kept files on Equality Maryland's plans to hold rallies outside the State House in Annapolis to press for legislation reversing the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Police plan to purge the files.

The files were revealed yesterday at a news conference, where a dozen Democratic lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation to prevent future surveillance of nonviolent groups.

Police would need "reasonable articulated suspicion of actual criminal activity" before they could conduct surveillance, the legislation's sponsors said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) also plans to call for a similar bill. The measure also would prevent police from keeping files on citizens, unless the information is part of a legitimate criminal investigation.

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From The Baltimore Sun...

State lawmakers propose anti-spying legislation

Move is response to state police covert watch on peaceful activists

By Julie Bykowicz

January 23, 2009Lawmakers who want to prohibit the Maryland State Police from spying on peaceful groups and keeping files on their members announced yesterday the first legislative response to a "misguided" surveillance operation revealed last summer.

The proposal would require police to have "reasonable suspicion" of criminal activity before using covert tactics to investigate political activists. It also would ban the state from keeping files and dossiers on activists unless the information is part of a criminal investigation.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, said he will propose similar legislation, but the lawmakers who drafted the bill unveiled yesterday say theirs will be more expansive. The American Civil Liberties Union supports the legislators' plan.

The ACLU of Maryland, which sued state police to obtain information about the surveillance operation, said more than 50 individuals were improperly labeled as involved in "terrorism" activities. Additional spying targets continue to come forward. Dan Furmansky, former director of Equality Maryland, a gay and transgender advocacy group, said yesterday that he learned only weeks ago that state police have a photo of him on file and compiled information on his "suspicious" organization.

State troopers also went undercover to infiltrate anti-death penalty and anti-war groups.

Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat and lead sponsor of the Senate anti-spying bill, called the police tactics "Orwellian" and said he and other lawmakers wanted to send a strong message to the police that Maryland will not tolerate violations of constitutional rights.

The operation began in 2005 and lasted about 14 months under former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, and his state police superintendent, Col. Thomas E. "Tim" Hutchins. Ehrlich has said he knew nothing about the tactics.

At O'Malley's request, former Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs investigated the operation and concluded in a 93-page report that it was "misguided" and dismissive of civil rights.

Lawmakers said they intend to use legislative hearings to ferret out more information about the extent - and intent - of the surveillance operation. Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat, said the state police have been "lawyerly" so far in responding to questions about the operation and he would like to learn more.

Other groups named in police documents provided to the ACLU were People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Amnesty International, a group fighting BGE utility bill increases and the DC Anti-War Network. Several of the activists monitored by state police were in Annapolis yesterday to support the legislators' efforts.

Del. Sheila E. Hixson, a Montgomery County Democrat and lead sponsor of the House anti-spying bill, said it is clear to her, based on the liberal-leaning groups that were monitored, that someone in the Ehrlich administration ordered the state police to spy.

"State police get their orders from the executive department," she said. "They don't just decide on their own to spy on a group because they have nothing else to do."

Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, the current police superintendent, has called the operation "disconcerting" and said similar activities have not occurred under his watch. State police said they began the operation out of concern about the possibility of violent protests around two planned executions in 2005, although no evidence of potential violence emerged.

O'Malley's legislation could be introduced Monday and is expected to codify Sachs' recommendations.

Sachs suggested that police be able to show reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before launching covert tactics, but he did not say the agency should stop keeping files on activists. That could be a key difference between the two anti-spying bills.

The McFreeds report...

The following was taken from Equality Maryland's web site summarizing the two bills that passed the Maryland General Assembly this year pertaining to domestic partnerships. Once signed, these will definitely helpd us with our current goals.

The General Assembly approved two measures that were passed in 2005 but vetoed by Gov. Ehrlich.

Senate Bill 566, sponsored by Senator Robert Garagiola and cross-filed by Delegate James Hubbard, provides 11 protections to domestic partners. These include the right to visit one another in the hospital, share a room in a nursing home and to make funeral decisions for each other. The legislative sponsors and leadership, in particular Health and Government Operations Committee Chair Pete Hammen, invested a significant amount of effort to work with Equality Maryland to ensure passage of the bill.

Senate Bill 597, sponsored by Senator Rona Kramer and cross-filed by Delegate Anne Kaiser, adds "domestic partners" to the list of family members a person can add or remove from the deed of their home without paying recordation and transfer fees and taxes.

Both bills are headed to the Governor [O'Malley]'s desk; he is expected to sign them. The measures will go into effect on July 1, 2008.