In Maryland, anyone can seek criminal charges on their own without input from police or prosecutors by going before a district court commissioner, a judicial officer who is not required to have a law degree.

Del. Caylin Young is not resigning from his elected post in the state legislature representing East and Northeast Baltimore.

On Nov. 20, 2025, Darryl Nichols swiped a package that contained a stainless steel bowl worth $20 from the house of Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley.

On Oct. 21, Jalen Absolum, 18, of Philadelphia, closed on a home on Riggs Avenue in Mosher in cash. A family was living in the house and claimed they had a lease.

Baltimore Police Officer Curlon Edwards, who had been suspended without pay, was terminated after his sentencing on Friday.

Catherine Torney filed a lawsuit in 2023 against Towson University in Baltimore County Circuit Court that alleged negligence.

Members of the Baltimore Board of Estimates voted to resolve a civil rights lawsuit that Gary Washington filed in 2019.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore recently agreed not to use a blanket legal defense to avoid paying survivors of sexual abuse whose claims aren’t covered by insurance.

Keon Wilson-Hawkins, 22, of Baltimore, was found guilty in Frederick County Circuit Court of first-degree murder and related crimes in the killing of Brice Boots, 65, of Pikesville.

The Banner will continue to report on these court cases and others in Baltimore and the surrounding counties.

The Baltimore Board of Estimates is set to vote on Jan. 7 on whether to approve the settlement for Gary Washington, who spent 31 years in prison in the deadly shooting of Faheem “Bobo” Ali, 17, on Dec. 27, 1986.

A jury returned a $1.5 billion verdict in favor of Cherie Craft, 54, of Atlanta, on Monday in Baltimore Circuit Court. Craft was diagnosed in 2024 with an incurable form of cancer.

Maryland’s district court commissioner system allows people to file criminal charges with little oversight, a Banner investigation found. The process can be abused and upend lives.

Experts say several changes could improve an unusual part of the criminal legal system in Maryland — one that allows anyone to seek charges on their own without input from police or prosecutors.

In Maryland, people can be arrested, thrown in jail and forced to defend themselves against criminal charges without input from police or prosecutors.

At the urging of the victim’s family, Baltimore Circuit Judge Nicole K. Barmore accepted a plea agreement that spared Camree Hickerson, 33, of Arbutus, any additional time in jail.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore on Friday agreed not to use a blanket defense in its bankruptcy case to avoid paying survivors of sexual abuse whose claims aren’t covered by insurance.

Ryan Hall, 51, of Woodbine, faces between 25 and 40 years in federal prison at sentencing on March 3, 2026.

Jonathon Wagner, 39, of North Baltimore, pleaded guilty on Thursday to vandalizing Kitchen Design by Idan in Baltimore County with costume blood.

Roberts, 28, of Mount Vernon, is the singer of the Baltimore hardcore band No Idols.