The Policies of Justice and Injustice
Kemp Freund Weighs In on School Resource Officers
As communities struggle with increasing violence, school boards debate the utility of having police officers assigned to public schools. Two leading Democrat Presidents — Clinton and Obama — urged Congress to fund SROs (School Resource Officers) nationwide. Yet, the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Education have issued reports that SROs discipline…
Read MoreSerge, Clarke and ASA “Tasha B” Pick Their Five Favorite Courtroom Movies
Assistant State’s Attorney Natasha Blount (“Tasha”) joins Serge and Clarke to debate the best five courtroom movies of all time and one agreed upon honorable mention. Hear Tasha’s persuasive reason for not including “A Few Good Men” in her list. But it is Tasha’s number one movie that leaves Clarke speechless — something more than…
Read MoreMaryland State Police Seek to Fire Trooper of the Year—Part II
Part II of the podcast: Maryland State Police v Trooper of the Year. In this episode Clarke, Serge and TFC Kashef Khan talk about a bizarre trial board where the prosecutor’s first witness against TFC Khan was TFC Khan. When Clarke Ahlers called an IAD investigator to the stand in the defense case, an Assistant…
Read MoreMaryland State Police Seek to Fire Trooper of the Year
Serge and I discuss the backward world of the Maryland State Police with one of its own. You will hear from a “brown skin Muslim” who was awarded the 2019 statewide “Trooper of the Year” by Governor Hogan. But the next year—when he again outperformed every other trooper—this Trooper First Class was told that a…
Read MoreBlack History Month: A Living History Interview with the Hon. F. L. Antonin, Ret. (Part 2)
In honor of Black History Month, Serge and Clarke interview the third African American woman appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey. Serge was able to secure this interview because Frances Lawrence Antonin, who helped break barriers for African American female attorneys, especially in New Jersey, is his mother. Clarke recommends this interview for…
Read MoreBlack History Month: A Living History Interview with the Hon. F. L. Antonin, Ret. (Part 1)
In honor of Black History Month, Serge and Clarke interview the third African American woman appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey. Serge was able to secure this interview because Frances Lawrence Antonin, who helped break barriers for African American female attorneys especially in New Jersey, is his mother. Clarke recommends this interview for…
Read MoreA Look at U.S. v. Mosby
On January 13, 2022, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland announced a four-count federal indictment against the Hon. Marilyn Mosby, the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City. There are two counts of perjury related to making a withdrawal of funds from her retirement account after alleging a Covid hardship and two counts of…
Read MoreThe Calendar Year 2021 Wrap Up Show
Serge and Clarke update their audience on everything from Derek Chauvin’s federal conviction to Kyle Rittenhouse’s celebrity status, along with Serge’s “worst of the year” and Clarke’s “best of the year.” An easy listen but with a note of sadness at the beginning of the episode as Serge and Clarke acknowledge the passing of Baltimore Police Officer…
Read MoreTrayvon Martin & Ahmaud Arbery: A Reflection on Similarities.
On February 26, 2012, a “neighborhood watch captain” named George Zimmerman shot and killed a young African American man named Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Almost eight years later to the day, in Brunswick, Georgia, 264 miles due north of Sanford, Florida, a group of self-appointed law enforcers – Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William…
Read MoreMaryland Prosecutors Release “Do Not Call Lists.”
The chief prosecutor in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County Maryland released their respective “Do Not Call Lists” after a Maryland appellate court ruling. The “Do Not Call Lists” are lists of former and current federal, state, and local law enforcement officers deemed unfit to testify by prosecutors because the prosecutors question the officer’s credibility.…
Read MoreOn the Normalization of Marijuana
In the United States, many states have made medical marijuana available to anyone with a medical marijuana card. Some states have decriminalized marijuana and still others have made recreational marijuana use legal for adults. Serge and Clarke discuss their thoughts on this subject and especially the need for better THC testing for drugged driving cases.
Read MoreDefunding the Police: A 1935 idea is partially realized in 2021
Serge and Clarke discuss the original idea of W.E.B. Du Bois that is now the slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Serge argues for more money for police agencies, while Clarke — who disagrees with the basic idea of “defunding the police” — argues that police departments need to use…
Read MoreGun Violence Claims Innocent Bystanders
An increasingly complicated problem in America is the wounding and killing of unintended victims. There are so many shootings in so many locations, including highways, that the daily news reports children and adults being harmed who weren’t even intended to be harmed by the trigger pullers. Serge and Clarke talk about this phenomenon, especially in…
Read MoreOcean City, Maryland Police Enforce Vaping Laws the Old Fashioned Way—With Force
Videos of Ocean City, Maryland Police Officers kicking, tackling, and even using a taser on young African American males to enforce the prohibition against vaping on the Boardwalk prompt this week’s discussion. Serge and Clarke explain the Ocean City ordinances and comment upon the enforcement strategies which have resulted in a public relations debacle for…
Read MoreFells Point Tax Revolt Leads Baltimore Police to “Flood the Zone.”
Thirty-seven Baltimore businesses threatened a taxpayer revolt unless the city provided sufficient police protection to the Fells Points community. Counter-protestors threatened to boycott these same businesses unless they paid taxes. The politics of police protection in Baltimore is the topic of this podcast. “We’ve reached our breaking point”: 37 Fells Point businesses threaten not to…
Read MoreProject EXILE makes for strange bedfellows in Baltimore
The acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland holds a press conference to announce an expanded Project EXILE in Baltimore. He shares the stage with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers consider the confusing messages being sent by Marilyn Mosby who told her constituents that the most serious problem facing…
Read MorePolice Body-Worn Cameras in the George Floyd, Daunte Wright & Ma’Khia Bryant cases.
In this episode, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers discuss the recent phenomenon of body-worn cameras and the impact the cameras had in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, the anticipated prosecution of Kim Potter for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, and the probability that the shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant…
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