July 2016 Maryland Certiorari Grants
The Court of Appeals went only 2½ weeks between conferences. But we still get new cert grants! This round will need to hold us for a while, because the next conference is August 18.
The biggest news is that the Court of Appeals will directly review the Hogan Administration’s appeal of an injunction entered against it in a dispute regarding the Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Commission. The full list of grants, with questions presented, appears after the jump.
Maryland High Court Introduces Civil Liability for Adults Who Allow Underage Drinking
This week, the Maryland Court of Appeals, in Kiriakos v. Phillips, punched a large hole in a civil-law doctrine that has long protected adults who host parties where underage guests are allowed to drink alcohol. While it has long been illegal to sell or otherwise supply alcohol to minors, Maryland law has nonetheless rejected attempts to assign civil liability to those who provide alcohol to minors when the inebriated minors injure themselves or others. Although minors who consume alcohol frequently cause horrific – often fatal – accidents (or commit serious felonies), Maryland tort law has traditionally assigned liability for the injuries to those who consumed the alcohol while shielding the individuals or businesses that furnished the alcohol. But, recognizing the special vulnerability of minors to alcohol, the Court now holds that adults who “knowingly and willfully” allow underage guests to drink on their property and substantially contribute to the minor’s diminished ability to reason can be found liable for the harm that results from a drunken guest’s subsequent actions. Read More…
New Employee Classification in the Fourth Circuit: Exotic Dancer
As a government legal adviser, I often encountered the question of whether a person performing services for Montgomery County was an employee or an independent contractor. The distinction held significance, because it determined who had responsibility for Social Security payments, unemployment insurance premiums, workers’ compensation benefits, overtime, and other aspects of the employment relationship. Simply designating a person as an independent contractor usually did not make it so. Instead, the activities performed by the person and the manner of performing them became key focal points.
Save time and money by appealing in banc
By John Grimm
I recently posted about appeals in District Court of Maryland cases, including lesser-known appellate options. Maryland also allows for an unusual type of appeal from circuit court decisions — the in banc appeal. Article 4, § 22 of the Maryland Constitution allows, with some exceptions, a party who loses “any trial conducted by less than three Circuit Judges,” to request review “in banc” (and yes, for the pedantically inclined, the term of art is “in banc,” not the more common “en banc”) by three circuit court judges, in lieu of an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals.
June 2016 Maryland Certiorari Grants
Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are here, but the Court of Appeals of Maryland is still hard at work, cranking out another batch of certiorari grants. Does heading out into the stifling, stuffy heat make you feel like you’re suffocating? Well, have hope: The Court is going to figure something out about toxic air pollutants in commercial parks. Also in the slate: questions about voir dire, searching for records subject to the Public Information Act, and the writ of actual innocence. See the full lineup after the jump.
State v. Braverman: $5 million fee award here today, gone tomorrow
In an opinion featuring forceful and direct language, the Court of Special Appeals recently reminded us that the “American Rule” regarding attorneys’ fees remains alive and well in Maryland. In 2007, 49 plaintiffs, led by William Braverman and Stanley Goldberg, sued the State of Maryland, challenging the constitutionality of recently enacted legislation affecting the use of “ground leases” in Maryland. After several years of litigation – including removal to federal court followed by a remand to state court, an effort to change venue, certification as a class action, and a trip to the Court of Appeals – the plaintiffs succeeded in their attack on that legislation. See State v. Goldberg, 437 Md. 191 (2014). The plaintiffs then filed a fee petition in the circuit court, which, after an evidentiary hearing, ordered the State to pay $5 million in fees. But the joy of that victory was short-lived, as the Court of Special Appeals, in State v. Braverman, No. 429 Sept. Term (June 1, 2016), reversed the circuit court’s award as running afoul of the American Rule.
COSA Dissent Watch: Credibility and Contradiction in a “Sham Affidavit”
The case: Davis v. Lewin Realty, III, Sept. Term 2015, No. 0420 (May 25, 2016) (unreported)
The questions: Can a court assess credibility in striking a “sham affidavit” pursuant to Md. Rule 2-501? In the context of that rule, how specific do statements have to be for a court to find them contradictory? Is it a materially inconsistent for a witness to recall facts in a later affidavit that she could not recall in an earlier deposition?
Shapiro v. McManus: Round Two for the Constitutionality of Maryland’s 2011 Congressional Redistricting
Shapiro v. McManus, No. 14-990, 136 S. Ct. 450 (decided Dec. 8, 2015), started as a challenge, on First Amendment grounds, to Maryland’s 2011 congressional redistricting. It appears, however, that Maryland and Supreme Court watchers nationwide will need to wait before the Court potentially sheds light on the lawfulness of that or other First Amendment challenges to congressional and state legislative redistricting.[1] In Shapiro, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled only that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in affirming the District Court’s decision that it was not required under the Three-Judge Court Act, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2284, to convene a three-judge panel to consider Petitioners’ First Amendment challenge to the 2011 redistricting. Further, because the Court has already summarily and unanimously upheld an equal-protection challenge to Maryland’s 2011 redistricting, see Fletcher v. Lamone, 831 F. Supp. 2d 887 (D. Md. 2011), aff’d 133 S. Ct. 29 (2012), it seems unlikely that Shapiro will clarify the standards applicable to a constitutional challenge to redistricting.
Governor appoints Getty to Court of Appeals, Geter and Beachley to Court of Special Appeals
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
Governor Larry Hogan today announced three appointments to the Maryland appellate courts. The governor’s Chief Legislative Officer, Joseph Getty, will fill the vacant high court seat reserved for residents of the third appellate district (Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, and Washington counties). Getty is 64 years old. Unless the mandatory retirement age is increased from 70, the seat will become vacant in another six years. Don’t expect the sort of fireworks from the last time a governor appointed his CLO to the Court of Appeals. Read More…
Maryland Court of Appeals continues its cautious approach to finding implied private causes of action
On May 20, 2016, in Fangman v. Genuine Title, LLC, a case certified from federal court, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. (“RP”) § 14-127 – which generally prohibits kickbacks and similar arrangements with respect to real-estate settlement business – does not create a private cause of action. Judge Watts wrote the opinion for the unanimous Court, which continued a winning streak in the Court of Appeals for defendants arguing against recognizing implied private rights of action.
Maryland Appellate Blog 