• On June 10, Judge Guido Porcarelli, District Court in Baltimore County , and the Park School Mock Trial team celebrated their National High School Mock Trial Championship victory during a meet and greet with Governor Larry Hogan. In partnership with the Maryland Judiciary and Maryland State Bar Association, Maryland Youth and the Law (MYLAW) sponsors the high school Mock Trial Competition each academic year. Judge Porcarelli began helping to coach the team during the 2016-2017 season. Since then, the team has won the Baltimore County Championship three times, the State Championship once, and was named Maryland’s 2021 High School Mock Trial Co-Champion, and the National High School Mock Trial Champion in 2021. The Park School is the first Maryland school to send its team to the national competition, as well as the state’s first national mock trial champion. • Since its inception in 2015, the goal for the Baltimore City District Court Re-Entry Project (DCREP) has been to offer participants an alternative to sentencing through employment and/or training opportunities designed to reduce recidivism. Between July 2020 and June 2021, DCREP graduated 22 participants virtually. These individuals were gainfully employed for three months or more, and most graduates participated in a DCREP recommended program for vocational training and job placement. During 2021, DCREP participated in remote, community partner panels discussing the importance of re-entry during the current pandemic. • The Baltimore City Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is a court supervised, comprehensive, and voluntary treatment- based program for justice involved veterans charged with misdemeanor and concurrent jurisdiction felonies in the District Court. Since its inception, 142 participants entered the VTC in Baltimore City. In fiscal year 2021, there were 40 active participants, 13 new admissions, and 14 graduates.
Service flags adorn a corner of the Baltimore City Veterans Treatment Court courtroom and from them hang streamers with the name and branch of every member of the program.
• Throughout the public health emergency, the Baltimore City District Court Adult Drug Treatment Court balanced working remotely with working in the office. The team followed the Judiciary’s phased reopening plan and made appropriate adjustments with the reopening of the courts. The drug treatment court team participated in multiple webinars, virtual trainings, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) virtual conference during 2021. Additionally, 240 hearings with 21 clients were held, and seven participants successfully graduated virtually. Funding was also added for a driving under the influence track to begin in 2022. Perhaps the most notable accomplishment of the program is that during the global health emergency, the drug court team was not aware of any participant who suffered a fatal overdose, an outcome that is consistent with the mission to help save lives.
Judge Guido Porcarelli, District Court in Baltimore County, and the Park School Mock Trial team at the Maryland State House.
The Baltimore City Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) team pictured with Administrative Judge Halee F. Weinstein, District Court in Baltimore City.
2021 Annual Report | 29
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs