Spying risks Maryland police funds

As much as $4.5 million in federal funding for the Maryland State Police would be at risk if an ongoing investigation reveals that its use of a criminal database to track peaceful activists violated federal rules.

The undercover infiltration of the protest groups appears legal under state law, legal analysts said. But entering a Baltimore activist’s name in the drug-trafficking and terror suspect database without apparent justification could violate 1970s-era regulations stemming from revelations of domestic spying by national intelligence agencies. It also could breach Maryland privacy laws.

State Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, has set a hearing for Sept. 16 on the scandal. If the covert operation, including the infiltration of peaceful groups, did not violate state law, Mr. Frosh told The Washington Times Thursday, he expects legislation to ban the practices would be introduced.

“It doesn’t appear that anything illegal was done,” said Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, whose office is participating in a probe ordered by Gov. Martin O’Malley. “We’ll find out 100 percent for sure” after the investigation is complete, she said.

State Police personnel spied on groups opposed to the death penalty and the Iraq war from March 2005 to May 2006, logging more than 288 hours attending meetings and rallies, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through the state’s Public Information Act. Ironically, that law is also the one troopers may have violated. The act covers individual privacy as well as the public’s right to government documents.

The State Police could lose all or some of its federal funds for violating the federal rules on gathering personal information, said David Rocah, staff attorney for the Maryland ACLU.

“It seems to me patently obvious they violated these [federal] regulations,” Mr. Rocah said Wednesday. “There is no basis for any of this.”

State and federal laws do not explicitly bar police infiltration of activist and political groups, but they do set limits on how personal information is collected and used.

State Police collected information about several protesters and created a record for one Baltimore activist in a terrorist tracking database, according documents released by the state last month in response to a public information request from the ACLU.

“It’s important to say and remember that even if this wasn’t illegal, it should be illegal and it’s wrong,” Mr. Rocah said.

Mr. Frosh said he plans to invite the both State Police Superintendent Col. Terrence B. Sheridan and former State Police Superintendent Thomas E. “Tim” Hutchins, under whom the spying occurred, to the Sept. 16 hearing.

Mr. Frosh, Montgomery Democrat, said he was unsure whether the police actions violated state law or forfeited federal funding, but hopes to find out during the hearing.

“It may be that the law is quite settled, and we haven’t figured it out yet,” Mr. Frosh said. “But if the state of the law is what it seems to be at the moment, I would bet you there will be a lot of proposals.”

The Maryland Public Information Act also requires that any agency collecting personal data - including physical descriptions, addresses and telephone numbers - notify the subject, with a few exceptions, including for criminal investigations.

State Police created a record in the U.S. database for activist Max Obuszewski, categorizing the entry under “terrorism- anti-government” and “terrorism- anti-war protesters.” He did not learn about his listing on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database until State Police released the documents last month.

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