Judges refusing to attend governor’s Baltimore crime meeting

BALTIMORE – Judges are refusing to attend a meeting Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has called to discuss Baltimore’s high crime rate.

The meeting involving Hogan and members of the Baltimore City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is scheduled for next week. Hogan has said he’s concerned that many Baltimore gun offenders have more than half their sentences suspended.

But The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera has told the governor that three city judges who sit on the council won’t attend the meeting on Tuesday.

Barbera said in a letter that it would be inappropriate for judges to attend, noting that they are not supposed to be “swayed by public clamour or fear of criticism.”

Hogan called the judges’ decision not to attend “unfortunate and misguided.”

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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com