5-14-12: Domestic Violence and the Violence Against Women Act

With the Violence Against Women Act up for reauthorization, we talk with experts and hear from a representative from an organization that tries to help those in abusive relationships.

5-11-12: Vital Signs 10

A decade-long portrait of Baltimore in data: from crime to grime to graduation to transportation.

5-9-12: All the Single Parents

Every May, the Baltimore City sheriff holds what’s called “Operation Mother’s Day,” in which he makes a big push to arrest those who have failed to pay child support. This year, they’re targeting the top 20 offenders, who owe over half a million dollars collectively. Maryland Morning producer Stephanie Hughes was there yesterday for the first day of the raids–she brings us this report.

4-27-12: Keeping Social Workers Safe

This week, police arrested a Baltimore woman for stabbing her baby during a supervised visit with a social worker. We’ll talk to Molly McGrath, director of the Baltimore division of the Department of Social Services, and National Child Welfare Workforce Institute director Nancy Dickerson will tell us how dangerous a social worker’s job can be everyday.

4-25-12: Changing How Maryland Collects DNA

Maryland’s high court ruled yesterday that parts of a Maryland law allowing police officers to collect DNA samples at the time of arrest is unconstitutional. We’ll talk about the possible ramifications with an expert of forensic DNA policy.

2-29-12: Second Chances for Former Convicts

How several new bills could help former convicts find jobs.

2-28-12: The State of Juvenile Justice

We talk with the director of the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, Nick Moroney.

2-15-12: The Application of the Death Penalty

Could a Maryland law intended to LIMIT the cases to which the death penalty applies actually be considered “cruel and unusual”? We examine it with a national expert.

1-25-12: Maryland’s Fetal Homicide Law

Two doctors practicing in Cecil County have been charged with murder under the state’s fetal homicide law. It’s the first time prosecutors in Maryland have used the law to bring charges against physicians performing abortions. We learn how the law compares to others around the country from policy analysts at the Guttmacher Institute and the National Right to Life Committee.

1-25-12: Murder Speak

Every week, City Paper chronicles each of Baltimore City’s homicides in its Murder Ink column. For the fifth year in a row, one year’s worth of those chronicles will be read aloud. We’ll talk to an organizer of the event at University of Maryland’s law school, and to a man who has served a sentence for murder.