Maddi O’Neill
@maddioneill.bsky.social
Freelance criminal justice reporter in Baltimore. Yes, I can find that court record for you. Hire me: madeleineoneill.com
Tonight at Fadensonnen! Doors at 6/movies at 7
m a x@maxgrobinson.bsky.social · last mo.@alexlei.bsky.social and I are screening the first two Tetsuo movies at Fadensonnen and you can pick up these slick mini posters from artists Sam Rivera and @camdelrosario.bsky.social for just $5! Pure Kinema presents: Tetsuo: The Iron Man + Tetsuo: Body Hammer Wednesday, August 26th at 7pm
Thank you @404media.co for republishing my story for @courtwatch.bsky.social about the network of volunteers working to make immigration-related habeas corpus petitions available online! www.404media.co/how-a-networ...
How a Network of Volunteers Is Liberating Critical Court Records for Everyone
Habeas Dockets are publishing immigration court records that normally aren't available online.
404media.co
WASHINGTON (AP) — Editor of Stars and Stripes says he is being fired for insubordination after saying any censorship is a 'red line.'
New for @thebaltimorebanner.com: Can Baltimore really sue Mount Vernon publishing giant Agora over how it treats customers? The answer might hinge on local families like the Vaydas. Story: www.thebanner.com/economy/balt...
Baltimore’s fight with Agora tests the limits of its new consumer protection powers
Baltimore is testing its new consumer protection powers in a lawsuit against Agora, alleging it gave predatory investment advice that targeted older adults. While the city lawsuit does not name local ...
thebanner.com
“A company representative told him he’d find the information if he paid $2,500 for a newsletter called Agora Seven Figures. The retiree paid, but never found what he was looking for. His wife died the following year, and Agora Financial never refunded his money, he said in an affidavit.”
Baltimore Banner@thebaltimorebanner.com · 4w agoBaltimore’s fight with Agora tests the limits of its new consumer protection powers
New for @baltimorebrew.bsky.social: Nearly every member of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board is in an “expired term” and must re-apply for their post, City Hall told the board last month. Critics see political interference. More: baltimorebrew.com/2026/08/17/c...
City says most of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board is up for reappointment – critics see political interference | Baltimore Brew
Mayor’s office says the move follows the City Charter. Others say it’s an attempt to oust “thorn in the side” members who have called for the panel to have more independence.
baltimorebrew.com
This kind of story is why I’m a Beat supporter. No other journalistic outlet in the city has asked this kind of obvious question and dug into the clear illegality of this new policy that seemingly materialized overnight with no public discussion
Baltimore Beat@baltimorebeat.bsky.social · last mo.Baltimore’s new Fells Point ID checkpoints are ‘obviously unconstitutional,’ lawyers say baltimorebeat.com/baltimores-n...
Fells Point’s streets and sidewalks are public property, last I looked, meaning open to the public.
Maddi O’Neill@maddioneill.bsky.social · last mo.New from me for @baltimorebeat.bsky.social: After we started asking questions, the city claimed that Fells Points residents can pass through the checkpoints without ID. But when I went to Fells this weekend, the security personnel said they had to ID "everyone."
New from me for @baltimorebeat.bsky.social: After we started asking questions, the city claimed that Fells Points residents can pass through the checkpoints without ID. But when I went to Fells this weekend, the security personnel said they had to ID "everyone."
Baltimore Beat@baltimorebeat.bsky.social · last mo.Baltimore’s new Fells Point ID checkpoints are ‘obviously unconstitutional,’ lawyers say baltimorebeat.com/baltimores-n...
Next month, I’m teaming up with @alexlei.bsky.social of @bruisermag.com for a double feature of Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer upstairs at Fadensonnen in Baltimore. 8/26 at 7pm; $10 suggested donation See you there…
"-involved shooting" was the kind of language news outlets "reckoned with" post-2020 then didn't actually and began using even more, according to data analysis by @steadynappin.bsky.social and I. A remarkable failing of the media that now extends to ICE coverage... www.huffpost.com/entry/police...
Major Media Outlets Can’t Stop Describing Police Violence As ‘Officer-Involved’ Incidents
Following the murder of George Floyd, The Associated Press issued guidance that reporters should not describe instances where police shot someone with neutral language. It didn't work.
huffpost.com
James Fallows@jfallows.bsky.social · 2mo agoQuery for writers: Can you imagine yourself typing out the words "ICE-involved shooting" or "officer-involved shooting"? I think my fingers would actually block the nerve signals if they sensed that coming. "ICE shooting." "Police shooting." You can sort out the blame. But start with the truth.
www.baltimorebrew.com/2026/07/15/m...
Mayor Scott’s pick to review SideStep program has a checkered past, but plenty of ties to City Hall | Baltimore Brew
Karl Racine, who resigned under pressure last year as federal monitor of the Cleveland Police Department, was selected by the mayor and by a former subordinate at Venable LLP, Ebony Thompson.
baltimorebrew.com
Great accountability reporting from @baltimorebrew.bsky.social about the lawyer City Hall hired to examine the SideStep youth diversion program (instead of the OIG): baltimorebrew.com/2026/07/15/m...
Mayor Scott’s pick to review SideStep program has a checkered past, but plenty of ties to City Hall | Baltimore Brew
Karl Racine, who resigned under pressure last year as federal monitor of the Cleveland Police Department, was selected by the mayor and by a former subordinate at Venable LLP, Ebony Thompson.
baltimorebrew.com
NOW AVAILABLE FROM ANURAN PRESS Physical/digital copies of film zines “Kinema: A Japan Travelogue” and “Drying Out at the Movies” + Kinema stickers, Onomichi photo prints and a Nightmare Alley chirashi poster by @ramonvillalobos.bsky.social anuranpress.bigcartel.com
Hoping to keep jurors engaged, some lawyers have turned to actors to read out trial/deposition transcripts in court when live witnesses aren’t available. Others, including the judge in this case, believe it’s more distracting than helpful. Read more: thedailyrecord.com/2026/07/06/c...
No theatrics: Actors can’t perform 1992 Baltimore trial for civil suit jury, judge rules
Paid actors won't be allowed to reenact portions of a 1992 murder trial in court for a civil jury charged with deciding whether Baltimore Police are liable for violating the now-exonerated defendant's...
thedailyrecord.com
New story for @baltimorebeat.bsky.social: Maryland's Child Victims Act helped uncover allegations of sexual abuse in the juvenile justice system and the Catholic church. A small subset of CVA lawsuits also reveals another source of abuse: police officers. baltimorebeat.com/marylands-ch...
Maryland’s Child Victims Act lawsuits revealed another source of sexual abuse: the police
When Brianna’s uncle died in 2024, she stumbled onto a collection of papers that took her 20 years back in time, back to when she was a frightened 12-year-old girl sitting in Baltimore’s social servic...
baltimorebeat.com
Lavish personal spending, 2/3 staff turnover and massive production cost overuns. My @notus.com debut is a 10-day investigation into why Hana Sharif resigned from Arena Stage. www.notus.org/metro/arena-...
Money Problems and Clashes With Staff: Inside Arena Stage Director’s Exit
Former employees describe the tenure of artistic director Hana S. Sharif, who resigned last month, as "three years of terror."
notus.org
It’s aliiiiive Anuran Press is: 🐸 zines posters prints stickers vintage magazines toys and more 🐸 Launching Monday, July 6 at noon at anuranpress.bigcartel.com
Been meaning to share this for awhile now, but this story from @maddioneill.bsky.social is still relevant. Maddi’s a great reporter based here in MD and has been quite consistent about staying on these ICE accountability stories. She’s also just a real one. PS: Even the snails say fuck ICE.
One State Has an Ingenious New Strategy for Blocking the Opening of an ICE Detention Warehouse
Tucked away in rural western Maryland, past a dead-end road cut off by railroad tracks, a stream runs cool and clear over a ledge dotted with snails.
slate.com
Updated the @propublica.org habeas tracker for the week. While the number of new habeas cases every week has begun to slow from the peak earlier this year, there are still thousands of cases being filed nationwide – higher than it was even a year prior. projects.propublica.org/habeas-track...
🎉 My nominee won the top prize at today’s @ire.org banquet!
Investigative Reporters & Editors@ire.org · 3mo agoAt the #IRE26 Awards, University of Toronto's Investigative Journalism Bureau founder and director Rob Cribb presented the 2026 Golden Padlock Award to Allegany County Attorney T. Lee Beeman Jr. and Allegany County, Maryland. Read more about why here: https://bit.ly/4wkVhf5
Supreme Court ruling that cannabis users can also legally possess firearms is another example of Bruen expanding people's 2a/4a rights. Recently, Hicks v. MD: Court ruled police cannot see someone with a gun and assume they illegally possess it and stop them. www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinion...
mdcourts.gov
We're hearing reports that police have tear gassed a group of protesters outside the Senatobia Walmart where an officer shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
Ashton Pittman@ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 3mo agoKohen Wiley, a 1-year-old child, is dead after a Mississippi police officer shot into a car and killed him. Family members say his mother was holding him in the passenger seat. The officers were responding to a shoplifting call over a box of diapers at the Senatobia Walmart.
I subscribed to some newsletters from Agora affiliates and the content is getting good
In the year 2026, the only way you can pay a public records fee to the Baltimore Police Department is by *mailing a check*
New: Agora founder Bill Bonner responds to Baltimore’s consumer protection lawsuit. He’s not happy. Read his letter in full: www.thebanner.com/economy/ripp...
Agora founder responds to Baltimore’s lawsuit: ‘We want a refund’
The founder of a Mount Vernon publishing business responded Wednesday to a city lawsuit accusing the company of deceiving customers.
thebanner.com
An Amazon driver from Queens posted frequent TikToks documenting her life on the job without incident — until she started speaking up in favor of a City Council bill that Amazon opposes.
NYC Amazon Driver Fired Over Pro-Union TikToks
An Amazon driver from Queens posted frequent TikToks documenting her life on the job without incident — until she started speaking up in favor of a City Council bill that Amazon opposes.
buff.ly