The Renewed Push to Rename Maryland’s Appellate Courts
By John Grimm
It’s no secret that the names of Maryland’s appellate courts are not to be taken literally: The Court of Special Appeals hears all appeals, while the Court of Appeals hears only special ones. Even lawyers admitted in Maryland who do not practice regularly in state court stumble over this nomenclature, and for non-lawyers or out-of-state lawyers (or even judges), the courts’ names provide little useful information about their roles in the Maryland judiciary.
A proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution—SB 595 and its companion HB 1329—would eliminate this confusion, by renaming the State’s appellate courts. Read More…
Lamone v. Benisek: Round Three in the Supreme Court for Partisan Gerrymandering Challenges to Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on March 26, 2019 for the third time in the ongoing legal challenge to the 2011 changes in Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District. Lamone v. Benisek, No. 18-726 (“Benisek”).[1] Boundary changes to the Sixth District were made after the 2010 census, and Appellees in Benisek successfully challenged before a three-judge panel of the federal district court below the changes as retaliation for their voting as Republicans in the Sixth District during past general elections. Benisek will be argued in conjunction with Rucho v. Common Cause, No. 18-422 (“Rucho”), in which, in addition to the First Amendment grounds asserted in Benisek, Appellees successfully challenged before another three-judge court, on Equal Protection grounds, South Carolina’s Congressional redistricting after the 2010 census.[2] Read More…
Governor Appoints Booth to Court of Appeals, Wells and Gould to Court of Special Appeals
Governor Larry Hogan issued this press release today:
Brynja McDivitt Booth has been appointed to the Court of Appeals, 1st Appellate Circuit, which includes Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. Ms. Booth is an attorney and shareholder of Booth, Booth, Cropper & Marriner, P.C. and has extensive appellate experience. Ms. Booth is the president of the Maryland Municipal Attorneys Association. She is a frequent speaker on appellate practice and land use. She received her B.A. from Bucknell University, cum laude, and her J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, cum laude. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable William S. Horne, Circuit Court for Talbot County.
Edward Gregory Wells had been appointed as an at-large member of the Court of Special Appeals. Judge Wells has served as a judge on the Circuit Court for Calvert County since 2012. Prior to his appointment to that Court, he served as a judge on the District Court of Maryland serving three southern Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s. He also served as Master for Domestic Relations and Juvenile Causes for Calvert County. Judge Wells also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Office of the Attorney General and was the first African-American to serve as Calvert County State’s Attorney. He received his B.A. from the College of William and Mary and his J.D. from the University of Virginia, School of Law.
Steven Bennett Gould has been appointed to the Court of Special Appeals, 7th Appellate Court (Montgomery County). Mr. Gould is a founding partner of Brown Gould Kiely, LLP. He is a trial lawyer and civil litigator who has litigated, arbitrated, and tried numerous complex commercial litigation cases. He has served as the co-chairperson of the Commercial Litigation Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County, and is active in his synagogue, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, where he has served on the board of directors and currently holds the position of general counsel. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law, cum laude.
A Necessary and Proper Post on the 200th Anniversary of McCulloch v. Maryland and the Upcoming Maryland Bicentennial Symposium
On March 6, 1819, exactly 200 years ago today, Chief Justice John Marshall issued his landmark McCulloch v. Maryland opinion, on behalf of a unanimous Supreme Court. On its face, McCulloch confirmed the federal power to create a national bank free from state taxation. But more enduring than the national bank’s charter (which expired by 1836) is the holding in favor of Congress’s implied powers, under the “Necessary and Proper” clause of the Constitution’s Article I, Section 8. Today, law students and elite legal minds alike continue to study the case and its lasting impact on our government framework and constitutional jurisprudence. Read More…
March 2019 Maryland Certiorari Grants
Here are the writs of certiorari granted by the Court of Appeals today:
State of Maryland v. Philip Daniel Thomas – Case No. 73, September Term, 2018
(Reported CSA Opinion by Raker, J.)
Issue – Criminal Procedure – As a matter of first impression, is a sentence imposed on remand legal if the new sentence imposes the same or fewer years of imprisonment but results in a later parole eligibility date than the original sentence? Read More…
An Extra Maryland Certiorari Grant for February 2019
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
On Friday, the Court of Appeals granted review in one additional appeal, to go with seven grants from earlier this month.
Edinson Herrera Ramirez v. State of Maryland – Case No. 72, September Term, 2018 [Unreported COSA Opinion by Judge Shaw Geter]
Issues – Criminal Procedure – 1) Did CSA err when it held that a structural error did not occur when a biased juror was not stricken from the jury by trial counsel? 2) Did CSA err when it held that even if a structural error occurred Petitioner was not prejudiced? 3) Was Petitioner denied effective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)? 4) Did CSA err when, as support for its decision, it used the number of prospective jurors in St. Mary’s County when trial in this case was held in Carroll County?
Friday’s orders also included the denial of review in a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status case, In re W. E-R., which I covered in a prior post. Read More…
McLaughlin Opinion Provides Valuable Guidance After Final Judgment Rule Sinks Another Maryland Appeal
A recent foreclosure action in the Court of Special Appeals presented Judge Arthur with the opportunity to cleanly explain one of the more maddening—and anxiety-producing—rules of appellate practice, the Final Judgment Rule. See McLaughlin v. Ward, No. 1827, September Term 2017 (Jan. 30, 2019). The rule begins with a simple premise: one cannot appeal a trial court’s ruling until the court has entered a final judgment that resolves every claim in the case. See Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 12-301. Yet, the rule has exceptions. And it is those exceptions that bedevil practitioners (and courts) as they grapple with proper application of the rule and try to avoid noting an appeal too early or—even worse—too late.
February 2019 Maryland Certiorari Grants
Today’s cert grants will bring a wide variety of issues before the Court of Appeals, including: the method for obtaining appellate review of an incarceration sentence in light of the Justice Reinvestment Act of 2016; the authority of the Workers’ Compensation Commission to revise an incorrectly-calculated award; and whether statutory relocation benefits should be extended to tenants vacating government-owned property.
Maryland Appellate Blog 