Dept. of Health v. Thompson

Summary

In a per curiam order, the Supreme Court of Maryland granted six consolidated petitions for certiorari filed by the Maryland Department of Health challenging non-monetary sanctions imposed by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County after the Department failed to admit incompetent-to-stand-trial-and-dangerous (IST) defendants to designated healthcare facilities within the 10-business-day deadline of CP § 3-106(c)(2)(i). Applying its intervening decision in Boulden, the Court held that a sanction under CP § 3-106(c)(4) must compel compliance with respect to the particular defendant before the court, and that neither the statute's plain language nor Boulden authorizes a court to bar the Department's reliance on acuity screening or medical records or to mandate chronological-order admissions. The Court vacated the circuit court's judgments and remanded for reconsideration in light of Boulden. Chief Justice Fader did not participate, and Justice Gould did not join the order.