Maryland
Woman indicted for hit and run murder of girlfriend in Md.
Incident took place on Baltimore-Washington Parkway last November
A federal grand jury in Maryland on Feb. 3 indicted a Florida woman on a charge of second- degree murder for allegedly fatally hitting her girlfriend with her car on Nov. 24, 2021, along the side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway where U.S. Park Police later found the girlfriend’s body.
Records from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland show that Janice Martina Mason, 28, of Melbourne, Fla., is being accused by federal prosecutors of killing Sharisse Denise Carr, 26, with her car on land “within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”
The Baltimore Sun reports that Mason was initially charged with murder by local authorities in Anne Arundel County where the case was brought before the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. The Sun reports that the case against Mason in county court remains open but a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office said federal prosecutors would assume prosecution of the case soon.
The Sun reports that charging documents filed in the Circuit Court show that Park Police linked Mason to the case shortly after Carr’s body was found along the side of the parkway when Mason called police to report that her phone had been thrown out of the window of her car on the highway and she tracked it back to the police.
The court records show Park Police interviewed Mason and she told them she and Carr were girlfriends for about two months and the two got into a physical fight and she left Carr on the side of the parkway before driving away, the Sun reports. Park Police detectives, after determining there were inconsistencies in Mason’s story about what happened, called her back for another interview and informed her they observed damage on her car “consistent with striking a person,” according to the Sun’s story on the case.
Mason then changed her story by saying Carr began assaulting her while Mason was driving and the two continued to fight after Mason pulled the car over to the side of the highway, the Sun reported the Circuit Court documents as saying. Mason said Carr then got out of the car and picked up what “appeared to be a rock or a brick” and started back toward the vehicle while wielding the object, the charging documents obtained by the Sun state.
Mason told police investigators she thought her “life was in jeopardy,” the Sun says the charging documents say.
The federal grand jury indictment says Mason “did on lands within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, with malice of aforethought, unlawfully kill Victim 1.”
The Sun reports that Mason is being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center in Annapolis.
Maryland
Supreme Court ruling against conversion therapy bans could affect Md. law
Then-Gov. Larry Hogan signed statute in 2018
By PAMELA WOOD, JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV, and MADELEINE O’NEILL | The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ kids in Colorado, a ruling that also could apply to Maryland’s ban on the discredited practice.
An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide whether it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court’s majority, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland’s legislative caucuses outlined their legislative priorities heading into the final weeks of the 2026 General Assembly during a joint press conference on March 24.
The press conference was titled “We are Maryland,” where a representative for each of the legislative caucuses outlined priorities.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) of the LGBTQ+ Caucus opened the press conference with a statement on the unity of Maryland’s caucus.
“Together we can show our state and our community a different world, one where we mutually support one another and through that support uplift every Marylander,” he said.
In a press conference on March 5, the LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined its top legislative priorities. Fair highlighted two of those bills again during the “We are Maryland” press conference.
The first of the two highlighted pieces of legislation was Senate Bill 626 and House Bill 1589.
The bills would simplify the process of updating an individual’s birth certificate and align the Department of Health and DMV systems to reflect those changes. The bill is being led by state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County).
The second piece of legislation is Senate Bill 950 and House Bill 1209, which would update and modernize laws and regulations around so-called conversion therapy. The bills have failed to pass either chamber thus far. They are being led by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) and state Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County).
(The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a Colorado law that bans so-called conversion therapy for minors. Maryland is among the U.S. jurisdictions that prohibit the widely discredited practice for anyone under 18.)
Martinez and Lam have introduced bills in their respective chambers that would expand PrEP access in Maryland. Martinez did not attend the press conference, and Fair did not mention it when he spoke.
State Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) represented the Black Caucus during the press conference. State Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel County) spoke on behalf of the Women’s Caucus, State Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Montgomery County) represented the Latino Caucus, and State Del. Lily Qi (D-Montgomery County) represented the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus. State Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery County) represented the Jewish Caucus, and state Del. Sean Stinnett (D-Baltimore County) represented the Muslim Caucus during the press conference.
Solomon ended the press conference by explaining the importance of all the caucuses coming out together.
“We are stronger when we’re together, and many of these issues that we have talked about, again, impact all of us,” said Solomon.
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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