Maryland

Supreme Court declines to step into Maryland gun licensing and Hawaii climate change suits – SCOTUSblog

Published

11 months ago

January 13, 2025

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Supreme Court declines to step into Maryland gun licensing and Hawaii climate change suits – SCOTUSblog

SCOTUS NEWS

By Amy Howe

on Jan 13, 2025
at 6:56 pm

The justices issued orders out of their private conference as scheduled on Monday morning. (Katie Barlow)

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s handgun licensing regime, as well as a pair of cases seeking to hold oil and gas companies responsible for damage caused by climate change. The announcement came as part of a list of orders released from the justices’ private conference on Friday. The justices granted three cases from that conference on Friday afternoon, and they did not add any additional cases to their docket for the 2024-25 term on Monday.

The justices denied review in Maryland Shall Issue v. Moore, in which gun-rights groups and gun owners challenged Maryland’s requirement that most residents obtain a license before buying a gun. They argued that because state law already requires them to undergo a background check to buy a gun, the license requirement (which includes another background check and a gun-safety course) imposes too heavy a burden on their right to bear arms.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the law last year. It pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion for the court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, in which he indicated that laws requiring gun owners to undergo background checks or complete gun-safety courses will generally be constitutional under that decision’s new Second Amendment test.

The justices did not act on a petition seeking review of a ruling by the same appeals court upholding Maryland’s ban on assault rifles. The court will consider the petition in Snope v. Brown again on Friday, Jan. 17.

The justices also denied review in Sunoco v. Honolulu and Shell v. Honolulu, a pair of cases seeking to hold oil and gas companies responsible for their role in increased fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which led to climate change-related property damage in Honolulu.

In June, the justices asked the Biden administration to weigh in on whether federal law bars the oil and gas companies’ state-law claims; in a brief filed in December, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the justices to deny review. Prelogar told the justices that (among other things) at this time the Supreme Court lacks the power to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision allowing the lawsuit to go forward.

Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in the Honolulu cases. Although he did not explain the reason for his recusal, the financial disclosure forms that Alito filed in 2023 indicated that at that time Alito owned shares in three of the energy companies involved in the cases.

The court asked the federal government for its views in four new cases:

Fiehler v. Mecklenburg, a dispute over land ownership in Alaska that hinges on whether a state court has the power to correct a federal surveyor’s location of a water boundary.
Borochov v. Iran, in which the justices have been asked to decide whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s “terrorism exception” to the general rule of immunity for foreign governments in U.S. courts gives U.S. courts the power to hear claims that arise from a foreign state’s material support for a terrorist attack that injures or disables, but does not kill, its victims.
FS Credit Corp. v. Saba Capital Master Fund, involving whether Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act, which regulates investment companies like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, creates a private right of action.
Port of Tacoma v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, in which the justices have been asked to decide whether a provision of the Clean Water Act allows private citizens to go to federal court to enforce state-issued pollutant-discharge permits that impose more stringent standards than the act requires.

This article was originally published at Howe on the Court.

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Maryland

Attempted traffic stop leads to arrest of Maryland man wanted for kidnapping

Published

1 hour ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Attempted traffic stop leads to arrest of Maryland man wanted for kidnapping

Frederick County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) announced the arrest of a man wanted for kidnapping on Thursday afternoon.

Suba Washington Jr., 27, of Williamsport, Maryland, was apprehended in Frederick after an attempted traffic stop early Thursday morning, according to deputies.

The pursuit

When officers tried to pull over a Hyundai Elantra in the 7300 block of Crestwood Blvd., the driver, later identified as Washington, refused to stop.

Deputies were later notified that Washington was wanted on charges of kidnapping, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment in Washington County, Maryland.

As Washington fled northbound on Route 85, he struck a car near Crestwood Blvd. and Buckeystown Pike; however, the driver of the vehicle was unharmed as the suspect continued onto northbound I-270 and then westbound I-70.

Washington’s tires were eventually flattened after deputies deployed stop sticks near the Middletown exit.

Though the pursuit still wasn’t over, as the vehicle managed to cross over into Washington County, where the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and Maryland State Police (MSP) aided in apprehension.

Washington was taken into custody after his vehicle approached the Route 40 exit, coming to a full stop on the highway.

The charges

A 17-year-old in the passenger seat was found with Washington during the pursuit. The teenager was released to WSCO.

According to FCSO, Washington Jr. was taken to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center and charged with numerous traffic citations, including reckless driving, negligent driving, and two counts of attempting to elude law enforcement.

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Maryland

Maryland to launch study on economic impacts of climate change

Published

13 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Maryland to launch study on economic impacts of climate change

Maryland will launch a study to analyze the economic impacts of climate change to determine the costs associated with storm damage and health outcomes.

The move is part of the Moore-Miller administration’s strategic approach to investing in a clean energy economy and modernizing the state’s energy infrastructure.

“While the federal government has spent the past year rolling back climate protections and driving up energy costs, Maryland is taking a responsible step toward understanding the true price tag of climate change,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. “This study will give us a clear, data-driven look at the real burden taxpayers are shouldering as climate change drives more extreme and costly weather events.”

The RENEW Act Study will be funded by investments and state sources, including $30,000 from philanthropic funding and $470,000 from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, to assess the burden that Marylanders are paying due to intense weather events and environmental shifts.

Marylanders on climate change

The announcement comes months after Maryland lawmakers opposed a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to recind its 2009 endangerment finding, which determined that greenhouse gases were a danger to public health.

Lawmakers raised concerns that the move would mean engine and vehicle manufacturers would not be required to measure, control or report greenhouse gas emissions. They also raised concerns that the decision could impact climate change and harm local communities.

The EPA said it intended to retain regulations for pollutant and toxic air measurement and standards. In September, the agency initiated the formal process to reconsider the finding.

In March, a Johns Hopkins University poll found that nearly 73% of surveyed Baltimore City and County residents were concerned that climate change would affect them.

According to the study, city residents were more concerned about personal harm from climate change than county residents. However, county residents expected to see higher costs in the next five years due to climate change.

About 70% of Baltimore area residents believe climate change will increase costs for homeowners and businesses in the next five years, the study found.

An April report ranked the Washington/Baltimore/Arlington region as the 36th worst in the country and second worst in the mid-Atlantic region for ozone smog. The report graded Baltimore County an “F” for ozone smog.

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