# Wells v. State

> Court of Special Appeals of Maryland · June 10, 1994 · 100 Md. App. 693

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9517866

## Case

- **Full name:** Archie WELLS, Et Al. v. STATE of Maryland
- **Court:** Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
- **Decided:** June 10, 1994
- **Citations:** 100 Md. App. 693; 642 A.2d 879; 1994 Md. App. LEXIS 100
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Alpert
- **Judges:** Wilner, Alpert
- **Cited by:** 20 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9517866

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that allegations in complaint, which suggested "individual negligence and bureaucratic mismanagement and incompetence" and "lack of clear procedures and protocols" did not allege gross negligence because the allegations did not indicate "malice, evil intention, or want…
- holding that allegations that state agency and city social service personnel failed to assure that child abuse complaints were properly investigated did not state claim for gross negligence
- holding that allegations of “individual negligence” do not indicate “wanton, willful, or reckless disregard for human life or the rights of others”
- stating that gross negligence “implies malice and evil intention”

## Opinion text

ALPERT, Judge,
concurring.
I fully concur with the opinion because Maryland law offers no choice. But let the past be laid to rest with the battered body of Myeshia Jenkins. We as a people and a government should never again allow a tragedy such as that before us to be visited upon our children. There can be no excuse for our failure to muster the resources to save our children, indeed to save our society because our “... future lies in [our] most valuable resource—[our] children.”
As pointed out in a recent edition of The Maryland Bar Journal,
The crisis that threatens the nation’s children has evolved because society has neglected and abused the legal rights of children. Society has failed to protect children of all ages and socio-economic groups, not just those who are poor, hail from inner cities or are members of racial minorities. At every age, among all races and income groups, in communities nationwide, many children are at risk every day. Compounding these risks are the deficiencies of those agencies, institutions and advocacies that are designed to help. Children have become victims of a failing social and judicial system.
Evelith, The Plight of Our Children. XX VII Maryland Bar Journal (No. 3 May/June 1994).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9517866. Public record. Not legal advice.