Upper Marlboro Criminal Defense Law Blog

Any type of criminal charge is a threat to your future and your personal freedom. A conviction leaves a mark on your record and brings certain penalties that can include everything from paying a fine to spending time behind bars. While you should take any type of criminal allegation seriously, there are certain types of offenses that are more serious than others.

Charges involving an act of violence against another person are particularly grave, especially murder charges. While there are varying degrees of murder charges, first degree murder is especially serious. It may be helpful for to you gain a deeper understanding of this type of criminal charge and the penalties a person could face if convicted.

A Maryland teacher - and the wife of a local mayor - is facing two misdemeanor drug charges after she was accused of attempting to purchase drugs from a student. Specifically, she was accused of seeking to purchase ADHD medication, contacting the student over social media as well as text messages. She is accused of attempted possession of a controlled substance other than marijuana and contributing to certain conditions of a child. The latter charge is for an adult accused of encouraging or causing delinquency or illegal behavior by a child.

The Salisbury mayor, the husband of the accused physical education teacher, issued a student saying that his wife was a great mother who was facing challenges. The teacher reportedly asked the student if they had ADHD medication. When they said they did not have any, the teacher allegedly asked them if they might be able to purchase drugs from friends. According to court documents, the student said that the teacher made multiple requests for the medication, and she told them to delete the messages involved in the solicitation of drugs. The student reported the messages to Child Protective Services and then the sheriff's office, who directed him to agree to exchange two of the prescription pills in exchange for $20. The conversation was recorded by police, who then charged the woman.

When the University of Maryland accepted your child, you likely could not have been prouder. Like most other parents, you probably had visions of him or her attending classes, lounging outside studying, making new friends, joining clubs, reaching academic achievement and generally having a full college experience.

What you may not have anticipated, however, is that college experience resulting in criminal charges. Though you may have worried that your children may consume alcohol at parties or make other irresponsible decisions, you may not have considered the possibility of him or her using someone else's prescription medication in efforts to stay focused.

A study produced by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice reported that the racial imbalances within the criminal justice system have improved over the past 16 years. Despite the narrowing of racial disparities among criminal defendants and inmates in Maryland and nationwide, blacks remain disproportionately represented within local jails and state prisons and among parolees and people on probation. In 2000, state prisons held 15 times more black people convicted of drug crimes than white people. By 2016, the ratio had dropped to 5 to 1.

Although crime statistics indicate less racial targeting in recent years, the criminal justice system remains heavy-handed with blacks according to the report. Prison sentences for black people have actually become longer for all types of crime although the overall rates of major crime categories have dropped.