Maryland lawmakers withdraw bill proposing ‘sanctuary state’ status News
Maryland lawmakers withdraw bill proposing ‘sanctuary state’ status

[JURIST] Legislators in Maryland on Monday withdrew a bill [SB 835, PDF] proposing to make Maryland a so-called “sanctuary state.” The purpose of the bill was to “prohibiting a specified government agent from taking specified actions for immigration enforcement purposes.” The bill would have prevented law enforcement from “stopping, arresting, searching, or detaining an individual for purposes of investigating a suspected immigration violation or inquiring about specified matters” and would have required a specific model of conduct to be developed and implemented for such procedures. The bill had been threatened [Washington Times report] with a veto from the governor and harshly criticized by the Trump administration.

Immigration has been a key focus for Trump since his inauguration. Last month the city of Seattle filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against President Donald Trump’s administration, arguing that their designation as a “sanctuary city” should not prevent them from receiving federal funds, as required by Executive Order 13768 [text]. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions [official profile] reiterated [JURIST report] that “sanctuary cities” may soon see federal funds from the Department of Justice cut off. In January, seven days after his inauguration, Trump issued an executive order [JURIST text] which limited migration from seven Muslim-majority countries, among other changes. That order was repeatedly challenged, causing Trump to craft a new order of slightly smaller scope. The new order was challenged [JURIST report] two weeks ago by five states claiming that the revised order will still “cause severe and immediate harms.”

THIS DAY @ LAW

First impeachment trial began in US Senate

On December 17, 1798, the US Senate began its first impeachment trial. Senator William Blount of Tennessee, a land speculator, was accused of plotting with England to wrest control of Florida from Spain. The Senate ultimately dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction—and, perhaps incidentally, lack of Blount, who had gone to Tennessee and had refused to return to the Senate for trial. Read more on the trial of William Blount.

Simon Bolivar dies

On December 17, 1830, South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar died in Colombia. During his lifetime, Bolivar led successful revolutions against Spanish colonial rule throughout South America. His efforts led to the independence of the modern-day nations of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Bolivia, a nation named in his honor.