Somebody please give Baltimore Examiner editor Frank Keegan a civics lesson.

"I found out you don’t have to commit a crime to be thrown in jail in Baltimore," he told the Examiner yesterday after prosecutors dropped an assault charge against him.

Mr. Keegan, you don't have to commit a crime anywhere in the United States to be thrown in jail. Ever heard of probable cause, due process and nol pros? Authorities had reason to believe Keegan may have committed a serious crime, so they locked him up for the night. According to a police report based on an interview with a neighbor, Keegan pointed a shotgun at the neighbor and the neighbor's family. It happened in Baltimore, but it could have happened in Amarillo, Boston or wherever Keegan seems to think the justice system in better. It happens a thousands times a day all across America. In the end, prosecutors dropped the charges.

So why does Keegan unfairly slime Baltimore? His implication is that police here are too aggressive and careless of civil rights. Actually, they're trying under difficult circumstances to control city violence, a subject about which Keegan's newspaper has had some things to say. When police have reason to think somebody pointed a weapon during an altercation, it sounds like they might want to look into it and err on the side of caution. Even Keegan's lawyer told the Examiner that prosecutors "did the right thing" in dropping the charges. Sounds like the system worked just the way it's supposed to.