Alerts! archive ::

An archive of email alerts following the legislative attempts in Maryland to undo the Court of Appeals decision in Tracey v. Solesky (April, 2012) from June 17, 2012 to March 24, 2014.

Archive email alerts

March 24, 2014
Urgent action - Plea to the Governor of Maryland
Support The Court Alert | The Maryland legislature has passed a bill in both houses that will fully abrogate the 2012 Tracey v. Solesky ruling, which declared pit bulls "inherently dangerous" and attached strict liability when a pit bull attacks a person. This liability extends to landlords when a tenant's pit bull attacks, as were the actual circumstances...

February 13, 2014
Send Letters to All Maryland Senators
Support The Court Alert | he February 6 senate hearing regarding SB 247 -- this year's version of the dismal "rebuttable presumption" bill -- ended up being a thunderstorm headed by Sen. Bobby Zirkin, who also presented his own bill at the hearing, a strict liability bill. The best recap of the senate hearing can be read here, at My Eastern Shore...

February 6, 2014
Written Testimony Submitted to Senate Hearing
Support The Court Alert | In light of the many arguments that will be repeated in this year’s testimony about how and why to “undo” the Solesky decision, DogsBite.org chose a path of historical reflection first begun by the Court in its opening paragraph by citing a 1916 Baltimore pit bull mauling. From 1844 to 1922, we reviewed articles published by...

January 22, 2014
The 2014 Maryland Legislative Session Begins
Support The Court Alert | Two bills have been filed in the House to undo the Tracey v. Solesky ruling, one dangerously dubbed another "compromise" bill (HB 73) and the other, a strict liability bill that only applies when a loose dog attacks (HB 80). If you recall last year, it was impractical to contact House members, who strongly opposed a meaningful...

April 9, 2013
Compromise Bill Fails, High Court Ruling Stands
Support The Court Alert | You may already know that last night, on the last day of the legislative session, the compromise legislation to reverse the high court's ruling failed. What this means is that the Tracey court ruling stands. In the words of the court, the following remains true: "Upon a plaintiff's sufficient proof that a dog involved in an attack is a pit bull...

March 8, 2013
Senate Amends Compromise Bill, SB 160
Support The Court Alert | On Thursday night, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee threw a hammer into House Bill 78/Senate Bill 160, the so-called "compromise bill" sponsored by Delegate Simmons. In a 7-4 vote the Senate committee amended it to provide much needed relief for Maryland dog bite victims. Left unamended, Simmons' bill would have codified...

February 7, 2013
Summary of House and Senate Hearings
Support The Court Alert | There is still time to write to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to support amending SB 160 to adopt strict liability. The choice between SB 160 as it stands today (without this amendment) or letting the bill die is a simple choice: Let the bill die. Remember, if SB 160 passes without the inclusion of strict liability, it could be years...

February 5, 2013
Written Testimony Submitted to Senate Hearing
Support The Court Alert | DogsBite.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the foremost dog bite victims' advocacy group in the United States. We speak on behalf of victims of dangerous dogs across the country. My organization supplied the amicus brief on behalf of the young mauling victim in Tracey v. Solesky. The Court of Appeals agreed with our brief...

January 22, 2013
Adjoining Senate Bill Introduced, SB 160
Support The Court Alert | Today we sent a letter to all Maryland senators concerning the "compromise" legislation first introduced in the House (HB 78) and has now been filed in the Senate (SB 160). We wanted to share our letter with you; it describes in greater detail the reality of these two bills. Essentially, "rebuttable presumption" allows all dog owners...

January 16, 2013
Compromise House Bill Introduced, HB 78
Support The Court Alert | Del. Luiz Simmons introduced HB 78 this week, a bill that thoroughly dismantles the Tracey Court's ruling. Simmons is announcing the new legislation at 3 pm Eastern Thursday, January 17. In a nutshell, HB 78 codifies the One Bite rule, but changes who must prove what. Now the burden is on the dog's owner to prove their...

August 20, 2012
Aftermath of the August Special Session
Support The Court Alert | Last week was an exceptionally busy one, marked by victories and violent fatal dog maulings carried out by pit bulls. In the late evening of August 14, two extremely important victories came to fruition: The Senate rejected the corrupt House bill that would have limited strict liability to at-large dog attacks (well under 50% of all dog attacks)...

August 09, 2012
Senate Bill Advances - Watch the DogsBite Blog
Support The Court Alert | The Senate strict liability bill (SB 2) has advanced to a full Senate vote. The bill is expected to have enough votes to pass the Senate. Because things are happening so rapidly, we ask that you watch the DogsBite.org Blog for the latest information. Tomorrow is the House hearing. We believe it will be far more acrimonious than today's...

August 07, 2012
Act Now - House Committee at Impasse
Support The Court Alert | Things often change on a dime leading up to a Special Session. We have news. Currently, we understand that the House Judiciary Committee is at an impasse; they not only want to kill the Court's ruling they want to kill the strict liability bill, which is set to be introduced by the Pit Bull Task Force in the next several days...

August 03, 2012
August Special Session - Next Week
Support The Court Alert | A new Special Session has been called for next Thursday in Annapolis. Delegate Curt Anderson, co-chair of the Pit Bull Task Force, has indicated that a strict liability bill will be introduced. If passed, the bill would remove landlord liability when a pit bull attacks for the first time in Maryland. Essentially -- as was the case previous...

July 08, 2012
Recap and What's Up Next
Support The Court Alert | Task Force Update - Assuming that a Special Session is not called before the end of the year, Task Force members will continue developing a strict liability law in response to the Tracey Court’s ruling through December. New Work Sessions about the strict liability law are expected to begin after the summer months with a recommendation...

June 21, 2012
Act Now - Work Session June 26th
Support The Court Alert | The June 19 forum is available online at the below link. You will need to have RealPlayer installed to listen. After clicking the link, click the Play button for the Judicial Proceedings Committee. Get a fast recap of the June 19 forum by reading our twitter feed that followed the forum live, and follow us on Twitter @Supportthecourt...

June 17, 2012
WYPR.org Podcast Links and More
Support The Court Alert | On Friday, June 15th, Midday with Dan Rodericks (88.1 WYPR) discussed the Maryland Court of Appeals ruling in a two-hour segment from 12-2 pm Eastern. These links are now online and can be listened to when convenient ... Also, the June 8th State Circle interview with Kevin Dunne, the attorney representing the mauling victim...