The age of constitutional senility
April 8, 2008
Today marked Court of Appeals Judge Irma S. Raker’s last session of oral argument before turning 70, and Chief Judge Robert M. Bell used the occasion to take a not-so-subtle jibe at the Maryland Constitution’s requirement that jurists retire upon hitting that magic age.
Shortly after beginning Tuesday’s session at 10 a.m., Bell heaped praise on Raker, saying she has “served this court with distinction,” noting her “strong intellect” and thanking her for placing great importance on “civility” among the judges and the attorneys who appear before them.
Then the chief judge delivered the kicker: “The Constitution regards her as senile.”
Raker will join Judge Dale R. Cathell as Court of Appeals judges who have reached age 70 but remain on the top court until a successor is appointed.
Cathell, noting that they are similarly situated, said he welcomes the fact that Raker “joins me in senility.”
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentLaw blog round-up
March 3, 2008
Here are a few law links for your unseasonably warm Monday:
- Dan Rodricks did a radio show last week on the Baltimore EXILE anti-gun program (PDF). In case you missed it, here’s a link. It was Feb. 27 from noon to 1 p.m.
- The EvidenceProf Blog discusses the Court of Appeals’ decision last month in Bellamy v. State (PDF), which dealt with the hearsay rule’s exception for admissions by a party-opponent. (The court said statements of the prosecutor in a criminal case fall into that category.)
- The Washington Post had a story yesterday giving the latest developments in the church-driveway dispute in Calvert County, which I wrote about last month in a story about the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The lede (yes, that’s how it’s spelled in journalist-speak) is: “In a test of wills, church vs. state, the church wins the first round.”
- Top in-house lawyers are not doing too badly for themselves, a new Altman Weil survey says.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentOpen seats at Court of Appeals
February 26, 2008
The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission has now begun advertising to fill the Court of Appeals spot Judge Irma Raker will vacate when she hits the mandatory retirement age of 70 in April.
Raker sits from the 7th appellate circuit, which only covers Montgomery County, so that’s where her replacement must come from. The application deadline’s March 24 for this one.
In other Court of Appeals vacancy news, there is none. That is, the commission was supposed to meet last Friday to see if it could come up with another name or two for the governor to consider for Judge Dale Cathell’s seat — after the commission’s decision to forward only one name did not go over so well — but the meeting was iced out and rescheduled for March.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentWanted: Judges
February 19, 2008
The judiciary has begun advertising (scroll to the bottom of the page) for the next vacancy on the Court of Special Appeals, which will be created when Judge J. Frederick Sharer turns 70 in April. Sharer sits from the third circuit, so that means his replacement will need to be from one of the counties in that district: Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard or Washington.
So all you Western Maryland lawyers and judges with Rowe Boulevard dreams, take note: applications are due March 17 at 4:30 p.m.
Court of Appeals Judge Irma Raker will also retire when she hits 70 in April, but the judiciary has not yet started soliciting applicants for her seat.
Of course, retired Judge Dale Cathell’s Court of Appeals seat hasn’t been filled yet. The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission submitted only one
name to Gov. Martin O’Malley in January, so the governor asked the committee to try and muster up more candidates. Look for news on that a bit later this month.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentWhich judge wrote the most opinions?
January 14, 2008
Reporter Brendan Kearney sorted through opinion after opinion last week, hoping to reveal the state appellate judges with the most “pen power.” What resulted are two sets of information, one on the Court of Special Appeals, another on the Court of Appeals (both PDFs). If you’re curious about the contributions of retired judges or the differences in reported vs. unreported opinions, look no further.
But remember, as Court of Appeals Judge Joseph F. Murphy Jr. pointed out to Brendan, “The input that the other … judges provide to the judge who ultimately signs the opinion can’t really be defined by a statistical analysis.”
JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentWho will apply to succeed Judge Cathell on the Court of Appeals?
December 12, 2007
FYI: Today at 4:30 p.m. is the deadline to apply for the Court of Appeals seat vacated by Judge Dale Cathell when he turned 70 last summer.
Cathell sat from the 1st circuit, which covers Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties. That means his replacement’s got to be from one of those places.
The Court of Special Appeals judge who sits from that circuit is Sally Adkins, who has been on the appellate bench nine years and served on the Wicomico County Circuit Court for two years before that. She is also relatively young - 57 - which would let her sit on the Court of Appeals for more than a decade.
Adkins is considered a likely applicant, but I wonder who else will try for the seat. Does anyone who knows more about Shore judicial politics than I do - not exactly tough - want to hazard a guess in the comments?
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentChoosing a new chief judge
December 5, 2007
OK, I confess: I’m a law dork. It’s hard not to get sucked into law-dorkdom when you’ve covered Maryland’s legal community for the past couple of years.
Anyway, because of my dork status, I’ve been thinking a lot today about who will replace Judge Joe Murphy as chief of the Court of Special Appeals.
UB law prof Byron Warnken suggested to me yesterday that the governor would probably pick someone who has been on the court a while, but not someone who is too close to retirement. If we’re talking about judges who will reach the mandatory retirement age soon, that eliminates Judges Davis, Salmon and Sharer, all of whom will turn 70 in the next three years.
On the other end of the spectrum, using a three-year cut-off would eliminate only the court’s newest member, Judge Woodward, who was appointed in May 2005.
Warnken also seems to believe that Judge Adkins will likely win the retiring Judge Cathell’s seat on the Court of Appeals, and that Judge Barbera is heavily favored for the Court of Appeals seat that Judge Raker will vacate in April, so he thinks they are not likely candidates for the chief judge spot.
That leaves five possibilities: judges Hollander, the two Eylers, Krauser and Meredith.
Do you agree with this list? Anyone have any guesses about whom the governor might favor? (For the record, Warnken predicts James Eyler.)
-CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
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