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In a landmark 1990 case, Maryland v. Cray,
Attorney General Curran successfully urged the
U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Maryland's law
permitting victims of child abuse to testily via
one-way television. The Criminal Investigations
Division of the Attorney General's Office has had a
100 percent conviction rate under Mr. Curran,
obtaining fines and restitution of more than $8.3
million and putting 50 defendants behind bars.
Among those receiving prison sentences have been
suspected or convicted drug dealers who were
prosecuted for failing to pay State taxes on their
income from drug trafficking. In addition, under
Attorney General Curran, for the first time in
Maryland, a jail sentence was imposed on a
defendant solely for the commission of an
environmental crime. The office's Medicaid Fraud
Control Unit, recognized as one of the best in the
country, has obtained $1.5 million in restitution.
Beginning in 1990, the Unit also has successfully
prosecuted defendants accused of abusing nursing
home patients. The Consumer Protection Division
responds to 100,000 telephone calls a year, handles
7,000-8,000 written complaints, and has obtained
several million dollars in restitution and fines. The
new Health Education and Advocacy Unit alone
has recovered nearly $250,000 for consumers by
resolving billing disputes, and has dealt with such
sensitive cases as negotiating with a health
maintenance organization (I IMO) to persuade it to
pay for a bone marrow transplant for a child with
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Official Biographies/29
cancer. The Securities Division instituted more than
300 disciplinary actions in Fiscal Year 1989;
successfully prosecuted major violations of Scare
securities laws; and obtained significant settlement
sums, including a $200,000 grant from a
respondent that will be used to promote securities
regulation, enforcement and public education. The
Antitrust Division under Mr. Curran has
investigated bid-rigging in connection with State
asbestos removal contracts, obtaining significant
settlements with several asbestos abatement firms;
reached agreements providing for $80,000 in
settlements of price-fixing charges levelled against
area soft drink distributors; and participated in a
$16 million settlement of charges stemming from
an illegal resale price maintenance scheme.
In the Attorney General's Office, Mr. Curran
established an in-house continuing education
program; encouraged assistant attorneys general to
handle pro bond cases; hired the first professional
Legal Administrator to manage the office, and
appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General to
serve as attorney hiring coordinator.
Mr. Curran was re-elected Attorney General in
1990.
Mr. Curran is married to the former Barbara
Marie Atkins. They are the parents of five children,
Mary Carole, Alice, Catherine, J. Joseph III (Max),
and William (deceased). The Cuirans reside in the
Homeland section of Baltimore City.
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