By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“I think that will be taken into account by the justices on the Maryland Supreme Court as they begin to do their work on this case. This wasn't just one judge off in the hinterlands somewhere. This was two separate judges, each of whom acted totally independently and came to the exact same conclusion about this particular … constitutional amendment.” - Sen. Chris West (R-Baltimore and Carroll), on the rejection Friday by a second court this week of a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the way the state draws congressional district boundaries.
Another win for opponents of redistricting, another March on Washington and a new ruling on workers’ compensation. Welcome to the weekend.
Republicans battling a ballot question on a redistricting constitutional amendment notched a second victory in a week Friday, when a Dorchester County judge rejected the proposal as poorly worded and poorly timed. That mirrored a ruling two days earlier in Anne Arundel County, and both cases head to the Supreme Court of Maryland next week, as Bryan P. Sears reports.
It was 63 years ago Friday that Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington, but the thousands who returned to the Lincoln Memorial to mark the anniversary said there’s more work to be done and new challenges to face. Ashley Murray has that story.
Professional athletes often get hurt, but they don’t often file for workers’ compensation for their injuries. But one player who was hurt while trying out for the Washington Commanders did, and an appeals court this week said he is entitled to compensation, as William J. Ford reports.
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The Dorchester County Circuit Court building in Cambridge. (Photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
By Bryan P. Sears
The Maryland General Assembly violated the state constitution and the Declaration of Rights, and failed to follow election laws when it passed a proposed redistricting amendment to the state constitution, a Circuit Court judge in Cambridge ruled Friday.
The 12-page decision by Judge S. James Sarbanes hands Republicans a second victory this week in parallel court challenges to House Bill 2100, which would change the way the state draws congressional districts. In his ruling, Sarbanes found concerns similar to those cited by the judge in an Anne Arundel County case Wednesday, but also agreed with plaintiffs on the Eastern Shore that the passage of the bill after a key deadline, and a "misleading" ballot question, fail to pass legal muster.
He rejected the argument made by Assistant Attorney General Daniel Kobrin that the language was sufficient and that voters have to read portions of the Maryland Constitution to understand what standards are to be used for congressional districts. "It should not be this confusing for a voter," Sarbanes wrote.
Sarbanes issued an injunction prohibiting the ballot from being presented to voters in November. He then stayed his order pending an appeal to the Maryland Supreme Court, which is already scheduled for next week for the Anne Arundel case.
Demonstrators gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Friday, the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By Ashley Murray
Just two months from midterm elections and four months removed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted racial protections of the Voting Rights Act, thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Friday — 63 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there.
Organizers of the “Defend the Vote” rally said there’s still work to be done.
The event, co-chaired by the Rev. Al Sharpton and King’s son Martin Luther King III and daughter-in-law Arndrea Waters King, featured appearances from union leaders, interfaith organizers and people whose parents attended the iconic 1963 march. Elected leaders, including Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also spoke. Demonstrators who traveled from across the country with various organizations marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial following a four-hour program of speeches.
“Sixty-three years ago, my grandfather told America, ‘I have a dream.’ Today, I want my generation to say something back — ‘We hear you,’” said Yolanda Renee King, 18, the granddaughter of the civil rights leader. “We know the dream was never finished, and we know you were never asking us to simply remember you. You were asking us to continue, so we will. We will pick up the baton.”
A look at Northwest Stadium on April 28, 2025, home of the Washington Commanders. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
Court: Former Washington Commanders player can get workers’ comp for training camp injury
By William J. Ford
A former Washington Commanders football player who ruptured his Achilles tendon during training camp in 2023 is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for the injury, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled this week.
The Wednesday ruling said Curtis Brooks never made it on the Commanders active roster and didn’t play a game. But the 20-page ruling from the Appellate Court of Maryland said Brooks, who signed with the team Aug. 3, 2023, to play on the defensive line, was still a “covered employee” when his injury happened three days later during an early training camp practice.
Brooks, who hasn’t played in the National Football League since his injury, filed a worker’s compensation claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission in March 2024. But it ruled that he did not qualify as a covered employee in the state and noted that the injury occurred at the team's training facility in Ashburn, Virginia.
A Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge reversed that ruling in May 2025, saying Brooks was under contract at the time of his injury with the team, with his primary place of employment in Landover, where the team plays its home games. A three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld that ruling Wednesday.
IN OTHER NEWS
Fed pay freeze in 2027: Most civilian federal employees will not see a pay raise in 2027 under a pay plan quietly issued this week by President Donald Trump, who did include raises for federal law enforcement officers and increases up to 7% for some in the military.
Trump back in court to enforce mail-in ballot restrictions: The White House Friday appealed a federal judge’s pause on new U.S. Postal Service restrictions on mail-in voting, a plan challenged by states, including Maryland, as an infringement of their rights.
Political notes: A gubernatorial debate between GOP nominee Dan Cox and Gov. Wes Moore (D) sparks more debate, about how many debates there should be and who should be in them, and "green bank" director Kathy Magruder steps down, in political notes.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Rapid-fire redistricting decisions: An Eastern Shore GOP lawmaker said he is "very confident" a Dorchester County judge will follow the lead of another court and reject a proposed constitutional amendment changing the way congressional districts are drawn.
Fighting family planning restrictions: Maryland is leading a lawsuit with 22 other states against a Trump administration rule that threatens family planning grants to states that aren’t aligned with administration policies on abortion, transgender rights and DEI.
BCCC faculty union OKs contract: A faculty union at Baltimore City Community College ratified its first-ever contract, which includes a 3.25% raise and $1,000 bonus in the first year and 8.25% over the course of the three-year agreement.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
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