O'Malley's New Slave Law

Thanks to Blair Lee for bringing this to my attention. Starting in 2011 all companies that want to do business in the state of Maryland will be forced to comply with a new law that Martin O'Malley signed on April 14th.

The new law titled the Maryland Slaveholder Insurance Disclosure Law requires that insurance companies disclose any policies they or their predecessor companies issued to slave holders up through 1865. In addition, they will also need to disclose the names of the slaves.

I want to know what the purpose is of this law. According to the lead sponsor of the bill, Lisa Gladden, queen of tax payer waste, said the law will "...help Americans gain a deeper understanding of the evils of slavery and to find peace with the nation's checkered past" and "this is about becoming comfortable with our history. This is about healing."

Um...don't we have schools where we already teach about slavery? Isn't slavery already condemned in modern society? How will forcing insurance companies disclose this information help us heal and find peace with our checkered past? Lisa Gladden - you're nuts.

Here's what Delegate Lisa wants: (husband at breakfast table reading the Washington Post because the Baltimore Sun no longer exists) "Hey honey, check out this list of slaves that Met Life insured in Maryland back in 1745. Wow! I now have a deeper understanding of the evils of slavery. Boy, I sure feel a lot more comfortable about my past. Let's move on! Can you pass me another Eggo?"

I predict that in 2011 you will no longer be able to get insurance in the state of Maryland. How in the world are insurance companies going to comply with this law? Is there punishment for not being able to comply with the law? Gladden claims there will be no punishment for their disclosure, but does the law protect them from punishment or is that her word? What's to stop them for demanding reparations from these companies in the future for their disclosures?

I don't know about you, but I don't trust any word that a politician says. Take Kumar Barve, for example. He says favors tough drunk driving laws, yet his checkered drunk driving past says otherwise.

If this law stays, then I demand that Martin O'Malley sign a law apologizing for the persecution of Catholics in the state of Maryland in the 1600's through most of the 1700's. For those of you who don't know - Maryland passed a law in 1654 making it a crime to be a Catholic. In 1692, Maryland passed a law requiring Catholics to pay a tax to the Church of England. Additionally, Catholics were forbidden from holding services, creating schools, or participating in public office.

I understand that this isn't quite the same context as slavery, but my point is that putting ridiculous constraints on companies for a past in which the living had no part is unreasonable and unproductive. Stop wasting tax-payer money and increasing the cost of doing business in Maryland. We're going to get to the point where Maryland is the most politically correct state in the union that doesn't have any private sector jobs.