Wiley, on behalf of the Maryland Coalition for Justice and Police Accountability, has persuaded a Maryland court to uphold the constitutionality and enforceability of a landmark public information statute known as Anton’s Law.
Anton’s Law, enacted in 2021, amended Maryland’s Public Information Act (PIA) to allow public access to the internal disciplinary records of police officers charged with misconduct. The court challenge, filed by a police officer and the County’s Fraternal Order of Police, stemmed from a citizen’s request for the officer’s disciplinary records as permitted under Anton’s Law. The plaintiffs sought to enjoin the release of the records and asserted that the law violated police officers’ constitutional rights to privacy and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
On April 3, following a series of hearings, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, ruled in the Coalition’s favor, holding that Anton’s Law is valid and enforceable; that public disclosure of disciplinary records under the law does not violate police officers’ right to privacy or other constitutional rights; and that private agreements designed to circumvent Anton’s Law violate the PIA and are unenforceable.
Wiley represented the Coalition pro bono as an intervenor in collaboration with the ACLU of Maryland. The Wiley team was led by partner Mary E. Borja, and included Pro Bono Partner Theodore A. Howard, partner Ashley L. Criss, and associates Thomas Benjamin Boley and Kahlil H. Epps.