Seriously, this is a job for Chief Justice Roberts
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
In a February 15 post, I proposed that Chief Justice Roberts publicly address the harm to the judiciary that would result from Senate Republicans’ proposal to turn the November 2016 election into a referendum on filling the Supreme Court vacancy. I cited Chief Justice Hughes’ 1937 letter undermining the “Court-packing plan” as precedent for such an unusual action. A number of commentators – including Lyle Denniston in a post for Constitution Daily, Ruth Marcus in a Washington Post column, and Gabe Roth in an MSNBC op-ed – later echoed the same argument.
I am under no illusion that Chief Justice Roberts would find the idea of a public statement anything but horrifying. But the political landscape, as it has unfolded over the last month, is far more horrifying. Read More…
This is a job for Chief Justice Roberts, judicial statesman
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
February 13 was likely the worst day for Chief Justice Roberts since he joined the Court in 2005. He lost a good friend. He lost an ally. These developments would be awful at any time. The timing, however, turned Justice Scalia’s death into a challenge to the Chief Justice’s quest to preserve the Court’s institutional integrity. Roberts is a student of history, however, and there is precedent for him to take action to defend the judiciary. Read More…
Five Apply for Prince George’s County COSA Seat
The applicants for Judge Hotten’s former spot on the Court of Special Appeals have been announced, and, with five total, there is about 80 percent less interest than the at-large seat that 27 bench-seekers vied for in October. Granted, Judge Hotten’s position is limited to those living in Prince George’s County — which is not a place that seems to generate many appellate aspirants as of late. But the timing does give three of the county’s circuit court judges a chance to double-dip in the appointment process.
16 Nominated to Court of Special Appeals
It’s been quite a busy week on the judicial-appointments front: On Tuesday, Gov. Hogan elevated The Hon. Michele Denise Hotten to the Court of Appeals, and, today, nominations for the at-large Court of Special Appeals opening were announced. Although the deep pool of 27 applicants has been somewhat pared down, the governor is still faced with the difficult task of selecting only one of the 16 impressively credentialed finalists, half of which are sitting circuit-court judges. Of those, three on the Prince George’s County bench (Judge Alves, Judge Geter, and Judge Serrette) would, if it didn’t work out for the at-large bid, be eligible to vie for Judge Hotten’s vacancy.
Meet the Newest Applicants for the Court of Special Appeals
As indicated in the applicants list posted on the Maryland Judicial Vacancies website yesterday, more than 25 candidates have lined up to jockey for Judge Zarnoch’s seat on the Court of Special Appeals. As to be expected, there is remarkable variety in the group, from current sitting judges to esteemed public servants to distinguished private practitioners to versatile legal minds who have done a bit of it all. Below is the lineup with the applicants’ web pages and current gigs; from what we could briefly scrape off those pages – which is obviously limited by the availability of public bios and the information on them – we also cobbled some numbers to demonstrate the diversity of experience among this round of bench-seekers.
Three Names Forwarded for Seat on Maryland High Court
The Maryland Courts website shows that the Judicial Nominating Commission has forwarded three nominees to Governor Hogan for the Prince George’s County seat on the Court of Appeals of Maryland. The nominees are: Read More…
Only Two Apply for Court of Appeals, Triggering Mandatory Re-Advertisement
A vacancy on Maryland’s highest court opened when Court of Appeals Judge Glenn T. Harrell, who occupied the seat reserved for Prince George’s County, hit mandatory retirement age on June 27. The joke in legal circles has been that we’ll now learn whether there are any Republican lawyers in Prince George’s County (aside from a former lieutenant governor and RNC chair).
You can keep joking away. Steve Lash is reporting, from behind the The Daily Record paywall, that there were only two applications filed by today’s deadline. Both applications came from Democratic appointees to lower courts: Read More…
The Asterisking Begins
The Court of Appeals has issued two opinions since June 27. Each has an asterisk in the list of judges: “Harrell, J., participated in the hearing of the case, in the conference in regard to its decision and in the adoption of the opinion but he retired from the Court prior to the filing of the opinion.”
Yes, Maryland’s movie-quoting appellate judge hit the mandatory retirement age of 70 ten days ago. (Steve Lash’s nice-but-paywalled piece is here.) Read More…
Dan Friedman Appointed to the Court of Special Appeals
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
This press release just appeared on the Governor’s website:
Governor O’Malley made one appointment to an at-large seat on the Court of Special Appeals.
Dan Friedman has served as an Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to the General Assembly since 2008. In that role, Mr. Friedman provides legal advice to members and committees of the General Assembly about the constitutionality of legislation and proposed bills, and he also defends enacted legislation if it is challenged in court.
Prior to serving in the Attorney General’s office, Mr. Friedman served as special counsel at Saul Ewing LLP, as an Associate City Solicitor and Chief of Litigation at the Baltimore City Law Department, and as an associate at Miles & Stockbridge, P.C. For over a decade, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law teaching courses in state and federal constitutional law. In addition, Mr. Friedman has served in numerous community organizations and coaches lacrosse.
Mr. Friedman earned a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. After law school, he clerked for Judge John Carroll Byrnes on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and Judge Robert L. Karwacki on the Court of Appeals. Mr. Friedman fills a vacancy created by Judge Albert J. Matricciani, who resigned earlier this year after serving in an at-large seat on the Court of Special Appeals since 2008.
Friedman had been one of the finalists for the three since-filled vacancies that opened last year. Congratulations!
Some Thoughts on the Nomination of Pamela Harris to the Fourth Circuit
By Michael Wein
As recently posted on this blog, President Obama has nominated Georgetown Professor Pamela Harris for the Fourth Circuit seat that Judge Andre Davis recently vacated. In addition to her teaching credentials, Ms. Harris appears well suited for this task, as a regular Supreme Court practitioner who once clerked for Justice Stevens.
As I discussed in a previous post, there were five candidates, mostly with significant appellate experience, whom Senators Mikulski and Cardin recommended to President Obama. The list included former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. (Before posting, this information was confirmed from multiple sources.) So as predicted, President Obama did pick a candidate who had significant appellate or Supreme Court experience, just not Mr. Katyal, and Ms. Harris like Mr. Katyal teaches at Georgetown Law. Read More…
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