Talk about putting the system on trial. The attorney for Joseph Weigel, the plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Maryland Court of Appeals’ ruling that pit bulls are “inherently dangerous” and Armistead Gardens’ consequent ban of the breed among its tenants, has just expanded the suit to include Gov. Martin O’Malley, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, and the Court of Appeals itself as defendants.
The lawsuit reasons that the Court of Appeals ruling violates the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Maryland, and since these state officials have a responsibility to uphold and enforce those documents the ruling represents a failure on their part as well.
Does all this fall-out from the pit bull ruling obscure the original issue? You bet it does. The General Assembly has put together a “Pit Bull Task Force” which will meet on October 25 to “discuss the implications of the court ruling.” I hope that at some point they get around to spitballing about what we might actually do to prevent dog attacks.
