Dept. of Health v. Boulden

Summary

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed sanctions imposed against the Department for delaying placement of defendants found incompetent to stand trial and dangerous in designated treatment facilities. It held that monetary sanctions may be designed to compel admission of the particular defendant as soon as possible after the statutory 10-business-day deadline, including through daily sanctions based on waiting-list management, and may be imposed even after belated admission. Although the Department waived its separation-of-powers argument, the Court exercised discretion to reach it and held that the sanctions scheme does not violate Article 8 because enforcement of statutory obligations through sanctions is a judicial function.