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Community Law Center
ENEWS
January/February 2004
The Community Law Center and the Baltimore City State’s
Attorney’s Office Urge General Assembly to Strengthen Law
The Community Law Center (CLC) and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office
(SAO) are urging the General Assembly to strengthen a law to fight drug dealing
in Maryland neighborhoods. Pending legislation will clarify that law enforcement
and other government officers may reveal the results of an authorized search to
community groups and others in order to eliminate a drug nuisance and provide
judges a framework for resolving drug dealing at owner-occupied or commercial
properties. The Law Center’s support for this legislation will be spearheaded by
Matthew A. Feigin, Esq., a Skadden Fellow and Law Center staff attorney who
specializes in drug nuisance cases. The bills are Senate Bill 802, sponsored by
Sen. George W. Della, Jr.; House Bill 1383, sponsored by Del. Virginia P.
Clagett; and House Bill 1404, with sponsors including Dels. Keith E. Haynes,
Talmadge Branch, Tony E. Fulton, Marshall T. Goodwin, Peter A. Hammen, Ruth M.
Kirk, Carolyn J. Krysiak, Brian K. McHale, Nathaniel T. Oaks, and Jeffrey A.
Paige.
“I cannot tell you the difference it makes when we rid the community of these
drug houses,” said Helen C. Vello, president of the Ellwood Park Improvement
Association. Her group has pursued nuisance abatement lawsuits with help from
the Community Law Center. “The legislation is vital to all the community groups
in the Baltimore City,” she added. We are still losing valuable homeowners.
Citizens are no longer allowed to enjoy their golden years as they are prisoners
to fear.”
The Law Center alone has opened over 1,000 drug nuisance abatement cases on
behalf of community based organizations since the state authorized such lawsuits
in 1991, as has the SAO. “I applaud the General Assembly for its continuing
effort to improve upon the Drug Nuisance Statute,” said Patricia C. Jessamy,
Baltimore City State’s Attorney. “I have spoken to hundreds of city residents
who tell me they do not want to live next door to the fear and disruption caused
by drug dealing. Nuisance abatement legislation helps rid blight from our
neighborhoods.”
“These bills will provide communities with an important weapon to fight drug
dealing in their neighborhoods,” said Anne Blumenberg, the Community Law
Center’s President and Executive Director. “We are committed to seeing that
these bills become law.”
News in Southwest Baltimore...
For the third year, the Bon Secours Family Support Center is designated as one
of several free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites through Baltimore’s
CASH (Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope) Campaign. Last year, the Bon Secours
site prepared more taxes for clients than any other site in the City. The tax
season has begun in earnest thus far, and Bon Secours, in conjunction with Our
Money Place, Inc. and the Economic Development Committee of Operation ReachOut
SouthWest (OROSW), has assisted 350 residents, most from Southwest Baltimore,
with tax preparation. Bon Secours’ goal this year is to prepare at least 1,000
returns for clients, in efforts to meet the CASH Campaign’s ultimate goal of
preparing 5,000 returns city-wide.
Tricia Bozek, the paralegal for the Southwest communities, volunteered last year
at the Bon Secours site and is once again devoting many hours each month of this
tax season to assist in free tax preparation for Southwest Baltimore’s working
and low-income families. Kristine Dunkerton, Deputy Director of the Community
Law Center and attorney for the communities and nonprofit organizations in
Southwest Baltimore says of the program, “the VITA site is an essential tool for
asset building in southwest Baltimore."
The CASH Campaign is a collaboration of non-profit organizations, community
groups, and city agencies, who want to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC),
a credit which is important to the tax refunds of working and low-income
families. Approximately 20% of families eligible for the EITC do not claim the
credit. The CASH Campaign aims to spread awareness of this valuable credit in
hopes that millions of dollars in credits will be reinvested in Baltimore’s
economy. In addition, the CASH Campaign provides information on and encourages
its clients to participate in many of the asset-building opportunities offered
throughout the City. The Campaign’s slogan “Earn It. Keep It. Save It.”
thoroughly illustrates these ideas.
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Last Updated:
September 25, 2006 ©
2006 Community Law Center, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland
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The Community Law Center, Inc.
