Sun coverage: Md. State Police surveillance probe -- baltimoresun.com

March 3, 2009

Lawmakers begin push to outlaw surveillance tactics

Brushing aside assurances from the Maryland State Police that troopers will never again secretly monitor and collect information on peaceful protest groups, state lawmakers and Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration are moving ahead with a plan to outlaw such tactics and will push for legislative action at hearings today.

February 10, 2009

ACLU says O'Malley's plan to stop spying is weak

Calling the governor's plan too weak, the ACLU urged lawmakers yesterday to pass a more robust proposal aimed at preventing police monitoring of peaceful groups. Dozens of activists gathered at the State House for the organization's "No Spying Day."

January 6, 2009

ACLU 'guessed' correctly about police spying subjects

In trying to collect information about a defunct Maryland State Police surveillance operation, the American Civil Liberties Union made "wild guesses" about who might be in the agency's criminal intelligence database, naming 250 individuals and 32 groups in a public information request in late September. David Rocah, staff attorney for ACLU of Maryland, said yesterday that those guesses turned out to be "quite prescient," with a 66 percent accuracy rate.

November 19, 2008

State police spied on peace group in Frederick

An undercover Maryland State Police trooper attended a September 2005 meeting of a Frederick peace activist group, newly released documents show - further evidence that police surveillance of civilians under former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration was not limited to death penalty protesters, as officials had claimed.

November 18, 2008

Cardin and Mikulski ask federal officials about links to state police spying

Maryland's senators are seeking answers from federal law enforcement, homeland security and intelligence officials about any information-sharing and contacts with the Maryland State Police regarding a spying operation that mistakenly identified protesters as terrorists in state and federal databases.

October 8, 2008

Ex-police chief defends spying

Former Maryland State Police Superintendent Thomas E. "Tim" Hutchins defended yesterday the surveillance and infiltration of protest groups under his watch, saying investigators needed to gather information to prepare for potentially "volatile" demonstrations planned around executions of death row inmates.

October 2, 2008

Surveillance was 'misguided'

Maryland State Police "over-reached" and disregarded civil rights when they spied on anti-death penalty and peace activists in 2005 and 2006, according to a report commissioned by Gov. Martin O'Malley and released yesterday.

October 1, 2008

Spying may have started earlier than police said

A Maryland State Police agent may have used an undercover alias to infiltrate a leftist Mount Vernon cooperative in January 2005 - two months before police say their secret monitoring of death-penalty activists began - according to documents released yesterday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.

July 22, 2008

Police spying prompts hearings

State lawmakers are planning formal hearings on Maryland State Police efforts to spy on peace activists and death penalty protesters, potentially paving the way for a thorny debate in the next General Assembly session over whether to restrict the law enforcement agency's authority.

July 19, 2008

State police spying decried

A day after the American Civil Liberties Union released documents showing that the Maryland State Police spied on peace activists and anti-death penalty groups, Gov. Martin O'Malley vowed yesterday not to allow state law enforcement agencies to monitor people exercising their right to free speech.

July 18, 2008

Spying uncovered

Undercover Maryland State Police officers repeatedly spied on peace activists and anti-death penalty groups in recent years and entered the names of some in a law-enforcement database of people thought to be terrorists or drug traffickers, newly released documents show.

July 18, 2008

Spying worried groups

Max Obuszewski is a graying veteran of war protests. In his life, he estimated yesterday, he's been arrested about 70 times for struggling to make a point about critical issues, including the Vietnam War, homelessness in Baltimore and the war in Iraq.