Md. gov.: No more political spying

BALTIMORE, July 18 (UPI) -- Gov. Martin O'Malley Friday said Maryland authorities will no longer spy on political issue groups if there is no evidence of wrongdoing.

The ACLU released documents this week, obtained through a lawsuit against the Maryland State Police, indicating that Maryland State Police troopers had gone undercover to spy on protest meetings -- particularly meetings to plan demonstrations against the death penalty and protests outside Fort Meade, the headquarters of the National Security Agency.

O'Malley issued a statement Friday saying the spying took place under his predecessor, Robert Ehrlich, and promising his administration would "take seriously" possible threats against public safety, The Baltimore Sun reported.

O'Malley is a Democrat. Ehrlich, a Republican, said Friday on WJZ-TV, Baltimore, he was "sympathetic" to the public's right to assemble without being monitored, but he said state troopers "bring discretion with them to their jobs every day, so their job on a daily basis obviously is to weigh the relative value of intelligence they've received and to make decisions accordingly."

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat and a member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, said the United States "cannot allow police activity that is intended to discourage dissent by Americans who may disagree with certain government policies."

Submit to