GOP Lawmaker Pat McDonough Warns About "Black Youth Mobs" in Baltimore // The Same Guy Made "Speak English" Signs

UPDATE: Yesterday a former Press Secretary for former GOP Congressman (and Maryland Governor) Bob Ehrlich published a blog post scorching Pat McDonough for his comments (see excerpt below):

Why Republicans Should Be Angry at Pat McDonough

There’s one thing, and not much else, you have to know to understand Delegate Pat McDonough: He craves attention.

I realized this in 1995, when he called me – then the newly-minted Press Secretary to Congressman Bob Ehrlich – and gently scolded me for not including him on my press list for his impending “newspaper,” Maryland Citizen....

McDonough has no substance as a policymaker, legislator, or opinion-leader, but like many low grade talk radio hosts, he has a need and a knack for self-promotion. He serves this need by locating the sweet spot on issues sure to appeal to the political fringe.

Among the go-nowhere causes which he has championed: support for so-called “English First” legislation, opposition to a resolution calling upon Maryland to apologize for slavery, and a bill to keep an alleged exodus of Washington, D. C. rats from entering Maryland.

While none of his efforts achieved any real results, he usually wound up with his name in the paper – his real objective all along....

Now, the supporters of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants have, in Pat McDonough, a powerful asset: A right wing, race-baiting, demagogic delegate with a vocal hatred of all people of color, including immigrants. 

Three Academics Dissect Montgomery County Curfew Proposal: County Should Table Plan Indefinitely

Yesterday, The Washington Post published an op-ed from three academics highlighting numerous problems with Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett's youth curfew proposal: 1) Catherine Gallagher, Director of the Cochrane Collaboration College for Policy, Associate Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, 2) Stephen Farnsworth, Associate Professor of Communication at George Mason University, and 3) Joel Censer, Public Affairs Officer at the Cochrane Collaboration College for Policy.

Their article might be the first commentary from professors that we've seen specifically addressing the MoCo proposal (excerpt below):

Three strikes on the Montgomery curfew

On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council is scheduled to take up a much-debated proposal to establish a curfew for youths under 18. Such curfews hold appeal to many people, but there are reports the council is considering setting aside the plan indefinitely. There are three primary reasons that would be the smart thing to do.

First, youth curfews get the crime problem wrong. They target the wrong time of day, the wrong age group and the wrong type of crime....

Second, curfews aren’t effective. The Prince George’s evaluation found no significant drop in victimization and arrests among the targeted age group in the targeted time periods. This finding has been replicated in other analyses, some rigorous, some not as rigorous.

Finally, curfews in general — and the Montgomery County proposal in particular — get application, enforcement and punishment wrong.

Montgomery County Public Safety Committee Votes 2-0-1 to Oppose Youth Curfew Proposal

UPDATE: Here is a quick roundup of the latest MoCo curfew coverage -- 1) Washington Post: "Montgomery legislators may throw curfew into limbo," 2) Gazette: "Montgomery’s curfew proposal likely to fizzle," and 3) Kensington Patch: "Montgomery County Curfew Bill On Its Last Leg." 

BREAKING: The Montgomery County Council's Public Safety committee voted 2-0-1 to oppose County Executive Ike Leggett's controversial youth curfew proposal. The committee's three members include Councilmember Phil Andrews (Committee Chair), Roger Berliner (Council Vice President) and Marc Elrich. Mr. Andrews and Berliner voted to OPPOSE the curfew, and Mr. Elrich ABSTAINED. During the course of the committee meeting, the three Councilmembers conveyed the following views: