Free Republic

Prosecutors tried one last time on Monday to persuade a Baltimore judge to convict the driver of a police wagon in which 25-year-old black arrestee Freddie Gray’s neck was broken on the way to a police station. Both sides delivered closing arguments after more than five days of testimony in the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson on charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter. Other officers left Gray in handcuffs and leg shackles inside the paddy wagon, leaving him unable to protect himself from being slammed into the van’s metal walls during the ride. Prosecutors say Goodson “breached his duty” when...

Just one day ahead of the anniversary of the worst riot Baltimore had seen in more than 40 years, its residents will head to the polls to determine who will lead the city for the next four years. […] Shortly after the April 27, 2015, unrest, Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake instituted a mandatory 10 p.m. curfew. Four months later, she announced she wouldn’t seek re-election. The open race attracted a flood of hopefuls declaring their candidacy; before the Feb. 3 deadline passed, 13 Democrats jumped into the primary. The two most politically entrenched candidates emerged as front-runners: Sheila Dixon, who...