Showing posts with label Judiciary. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Maryland Reporter: Getty in red earns bipartisan praise

Maryland Reporter: Getty in red earns bipartisan praise

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 http://marylandreporter.com/2016/06/28/getty-in-red-earns-bipartisan-praise/

Getty in red earns bipartisan praise

Gov. Larry Hogan swore in his chief legislative officer, Joe Getty, to the Court of Appeals at the State House Monday, with a big heaping of bipartisan praise. Getty brings an unusual range of experience to Maryland's highest court, having served as a Republican delegate and senator from Carroll County and chief legislative officer to both Hogan and Gov. Bob Ehrlich, in addition to his private law practice. He offers "an invaluable and unique perspective," said Hogan.

GETTY SWORN IN AS JUDGE: Joseph M. Getty, who has served in two branches of Maryland government, joined the third branch of state government Monday when he was sworn in as a judge on Maryland's highest court, writes Ovetta Wiggins in the Post.

Gov. Larry Hogan said Getty, 64, is smart, fair, reasoned, logical and has a great sense of history, writes Heather Cobun for the Daily Record. "I have the utmost confidence that he will continue to serve the state of Maryland with great honor and distinction," Hogan said.

Getty, donning his new red robes, gained bipartisan praise, Len Lazarick writes in MarylandReporter.com.

Getty in red earns bipartisan praise

Also see: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/06/joe-getty-sworn-in-to-md-court-of.html

Labels: Dayhoff Media Carroll County Times, Judiciary, Judiciary Carroll County, Judiciary Maryland, Judiciary MD Court of Appeals, Newspapers Carroll County Times, People Getty-Joe Getty

+++++++++++++++++++++

Getty sworn-in to Md. Court of Appeals

June 27, 2016 by Kevin Dayhoff

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

Joseph Getty was sworn in Monday morning in the House of Delegates chamber in the Maryland State House in Annapolis to represent the 3rd Appellate Judicial Circuit on the state's highest court.

Getty, a Manchester resident and former Republican state senator representing Carroll County, had most recently served as Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's chief legislative officer. He was appointed to the Maryland Court of Appeals on June 1 to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lynne Battaglia.

Friends, family, former and current judges, and members of the General Assembly filled the legislative chamber to witness Hogan administer the oath of office for Getty to become the fifth judge from Carroll County to sit on the Court of Appeals since 1867.

Many speakers at the ceremony mentioned that Getty also made history by having served in all three branches of Maryland government — the legislative, executive branches and now the judiciary. It was a point not missed by local historian, Jay Graybeal, the former executive director of the Historical Society of Carroll County; a position also held by Getty from 1987 to 1994.

Read much more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff/posts/10208064232697184?pnref=story

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/06/joe-getty-sworn-in-to-md-court-of.html

http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/146586775468/getty-sworn-in-to-md-court-of-appeals-june-27

http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/501338.html*****

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Monday, June 27, 2016

Joe Getty sworn-in to Md. Court of Appeals

Getty sworn-in to Md. Court of Appeals

June 27, 2016 by Kevin Dayhoff

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

Joseph Getty was sworn in Monday morning in the House of Delegates chamber in the Maryland State House in Annapolis to represent the 3rd Appellate Judicial Circuit on the state's highest court.

Read much more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff/posts/10208064232697184?pnref=story

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/06/joe-getty-sworn-in-to-md-court-of.html

*****

Joe Getty sworn-in to Md. Court of Appeals

Getty sworn-in to Md. Court of Appeals

June 27, 2016 by Kevin Dayhoff

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

Labels: Dayhoff Media Carroll County Times, Judiciary, Judiciary Carroll County, Judiciary Maryland, Judiciary MD Court of Appeals, Newspapers Carroll County Times, People Getty-Joe Getty

Joseph Getty was sworn in Monday morning in the House of Delegates chamber in the Maryland State House in Annapolis to represent the 3rd Appellate Judicial Circuit on the state's highest court.

Read much more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/government/ph-cc-getty-swearing-in-20160627-story.html

https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff/posts/10208064232697184?pnref=story

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/06/joe-getty-sworn-in-to-md-court-of.html

*****

Thursday, May 01, 2014

MIKULSKI, CARDIN APPLAUD SENATE CONFIRMATION OF HAZEL AND CHUANG FOR MARYLAND DISTRICT COURT SEATS

MIKULSKI, CARDIN APPLAUD SENATE CONFIRMATION OF HAZEL AND CHUANG FOR MARYLAND DISTRICT COURT SEATS

Senators Recommended Hazel and Chuang for Federal Bench to President Obama

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) today applauded the Senate’s confirmation of George Jarrod Hazel and Theodore David Chuang to fill vacancies on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division, located in Greenbelt. Senators Mikulski and Cardin recommended Hazel and Chuang to President Obama for these positions on the federal bench. The Senate confirmed the nominations of Hazel, who currently serves as the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, and Chuang, who currently serves as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“I applaud today’s confirmation of George Hazel and Theodore Chuang to serve on the U.S. District Court of Maryland, and was proud to recommend them for the job,” Senator Mikulski said. “When I consider nominees for the federal bench, I have four criteria: absolute integrity, judicial competence and temperament; a commitment to core constitutional principles, and a history of civic engagement in Maryland. George Hazel and Theodore Chuang not only meet these standards, they exceed them. Maryland deserves to have highly qualified judges who will uphold the law to provide equal justice for all, and we have that in these two men.”

“Committed and principled judges are critical to a healthy judicial system and I am confident that George Hazel and Theo Chuang are two Marylanders who will serve with distinction on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division that sees an incredibly diverse case load,” said Senator Cardin. “Mr. Chuang has a broad range of legal experience in all three branches of the federal government, and is the son of immigrants from Taiwan who came to America seeking freedom and a better life for their family. Mr. Hazel has fought to keep our communities safe as a prosecutor, and is an active member of local organizations. Both have a strong record helping to provide access to justice to low-income residents in our state.”

Mr. Chuang will occupy the seat currently held by Judge Roger Titus who has advised the President of his intention to take senior status in January 2014. Mr. Hazel will fill the seat formerly held by Judge Alexander Williams, who retired in May 2013.

MR. THEODORE DAVID CHUANG

Theodore David Chuang, of Bethesda MD, currently serves as Deputy General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security, where he has worked since 2009. Chuang received his J.D. magna cum laude in 1994 from Harvard Law School and his B.A. summa cum laude in 1991 from Harvard University.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Chuang served as Chief Investigative Counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce in 2009 and Deputy Chief Investigative Counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2007 to 2009. He also spent six years as an Assistant United States Attorney and two years in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

MR. GEORGE JARROD HAZEL

George Jarrod Hazel, of North Potomac, MD, has served as the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney for Baltimore City since 2011. Hazel received his J.D. in 1999 from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. cum laude in 1996 from Morehouse College.

Before his position with the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, Mr. Hazel served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Maryland from 2008 to 2010 and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia from 2005 to 2008. He began his legal career in private practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Washington, D.C. from 1999 to 2004.

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Saturday, March 22, 2014

Female lawyers: Still must dress conservatively to impress judges.

Female lawyers: Still must dress conservatively to impress judges.:

Female Lawyers Who Dress Too “Sexy” Are Apparently a “Huge Problem” in the Courtroom

By Amanda Hess

[...]

"Judges who school female attorneys on how to dress are annoying, and the limitless choices of the female wardrobe are confusing. But having the opportunity to dress differently can also have its benefits. Lynn told Farmer that while a bold fashion choice was a risky move, it “could draw attention to you and away from your opponent” in a positive way.

A recent Harvard Business School study found that while dressing distinctly might compromise a person’s access to “shared group identity and automatic group trust,” it can also make her appear confident and influential. In 2009, a federal judge complained that he’d seen an attorney argue her case looking like she’d stopped in “on her way home from the gym.” Then again, that woman won her case. "

Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/03/21/female_lawyers_still_must_dress_conservatively_to_impress_judges.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=8a4a616e2d&mc_eid=b27361148d

'via Blog this'

*****

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Baltimore’s Rosewood scandal: Wealthy families sprang asylum inmates to be servants.

Baltimore’s Rosewood scandal: Wealthy families sprang asylum inmates to be servants.: "Crooked lawyers sprang inmates from an asylum to make them slaves.

By Jesse Bering"

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/03/baltimore_s_rosewood_scandal_wealthy_families_sprang_asylum_inmates_to_be.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=f6af3629f2&mc_eid=b27361148d

The Rosewood Center (née the Maryland Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded, est. 1888) is an abandoned mental hospital on the outskirts of Baltimore. The state closed its doors only in 2009 after a mountain of angry complaints involving understaffing, patient abuse, and neglect. Much of the rotting old bedlam now lies in ruins or is caked in thick soot, the aftermath of a recent suspected arson. But even in this dilapidated state, its imposing presence stirs up a sense of the foreboding.

Like many overwhelmed psychiatric facilities built around the turn of the last century, Rosewood had been dogged by shameful accusations for a long time. The most scandalous—the one that sets Rosewood apart from other asylums—was made by Leo Kanner on May 13, 1937. Before a hushed gathering at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Pittsburgh, Kanner shared the shocking tale of “the Rosewood girls.” It’s not a story most people know about today, but it’s an important reminder of just how destructive an upper class with an unchecked sense of entitlement can be, and how vital it remains to safeguard the interests of those who can’t do so for themselves. It also forces us to revisit an uncomfortable moment in our nation’s history when the practice of eugenics—human breeding for socially desirable attributes, such as intelligence—was viewed by even the most progressive human rights advocates as humane and ethical.

*****

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Md high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins Baltimore Sun Feb 26, 2014

Md. high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional

State can't take away ability to seize and sell homes over unpaid ground rents, court rules

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/03/md-high-court-finds-ground-rent-law.html

By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun February 26, 2014 http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-ground-rent-court-decision-20140226,0,2243306.story

Maryland's highest court tossed out Wednesday the heart of an ambitious legislative effort to stop homeowners from losing their property over unpaid rent on the ground beneath their houses.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated the rights of "ground-rent" owners by taking away their ability to seize and sell the homes of tenants who don't pay, then keep the proceeds. Allowing owners to bring foreclosure proceedings instead was not a reasonable substitute, the court said.

The decision throws into doubt sweeping 2007 changes to a Colonial-era system under which many homes in Baltimore and around the state sit on ground that is owned by a leaseholder. Homeowners on those properties are legally required to pay rent, usually twice a year, to the holder of the ground rent.

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/03/md-high-court-finds-ground-rent-law.html

Labels: History, Journalists Hopkins Jamie Smith Sun, Judiciary, Judiciary Maryland, Judiciary MD Court of Appeals, Real Estate, Real Estate ground-rent, Real Estate Maryland - See more at: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2014/03/md-high-court-finds-ground-rent-law.html#sthash.q8YG5Zat.dpuf

Md high court finds ground-rent law unconstitutional By Timothy B. Wheeler and Jamie Smith Hopkins Baltimore Sun Feb 26, 2014

*****

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Gov. Martin O'Malley appoints twenty-three judges - By Ian Duncan

Gov. Martin O'Malley appoints twenty-three judges

Baltimore police lobbyist, veteran public defender and senior prosecutor get jobs - By Ian Duncan, The Baltimore February 24, 2014

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-judicial-elections-20140224,0,3752810.story

Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed 23 people to fill judicial posts Monday, promoting a number of sitting judges and placing some prominent lawyers on the bench.

Among the governor's five appointees to District Court in Baltimore are James Green, the head of government relations for Baltimore police, and David Brian Aldouby, a veteran public defender. He promoted three District Court judges to the city's Circuit Court, and also appointed two other lawyers to fill empty spots.

*****

Sunday, January 17, 2010

'After visiting the courthouse, Baltimore writer wonders "Can we get free?"'

Baltimore Brew has posted a new item, 'After visiting the courthouse, Baltimore
writer wonders "Can we get free?"'

by R. DARRYL FOXWORTH

Doestoevsky astutely noted that the “degree of civilization in a society can
be judged by entering its prisons.”

I thought about that recently as I entered into the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr.
Courthouse, Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

My mother, an employee of the courts, imparted upon me a legitimate fear and
skepticism of the judicial system; I remember, as a youth, visiting her at work,
and witnessing the seemingly interminable line of young black men, handcuffed
and demoralized, being led into and, out of, various courtrooms. It rubbed me
wrong, it frightened me; I couldn’t allow that to be my fate.

You may view the latest post at
http://baltimorebrew.com/blog/2010/01/17/after-visiting-the-courthouse-baltimore-writer-wonders-can-we-get-free/

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Saturday, October 04, 2008

How much for the Heller case lawyers?

How much should the Heller lawyers be paid for winning the case against the DC gun law?

A controversy is growing over the proper payment of the three lawyers who handled the Heller case that result in the DC gun law being struck down as unconstitutional. The trio make their case today in the Examiner.

How much for the Heller case lawyers?

Alan Gura, Robert A. Levy, and Clark Neily, Guest columnists 10/3/08

Prevailing parties in civil rights cases are entitled to a "reasonable" attorney's fee. We are the attorneys who represented Dick Heller in the landmark Supreme Court case striking down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban on Second Amendment grounds, and we have asked the court to award us $3.5 million for six years of litigation.

The Washington Post has characterized that request as "adding insult to injury" and a "windfall" to which we are not entitled. The Post's editorial is long on rhetoric but short on analysis. In fact, the $3.5 million request is perfectly reasonable under existing court precedent.

The purpose of the fee-shifting provision is to ensure "vigorous enforcement" of civil rights laws, especially when monetary damages are not available and the claimants may not be able to afford competent legal counsel. To attain that goal, prevailing lawyers should receive a market rate for their efforts.

[…]

With respect to our recorded hours, the total was under 3,100 for three lawyers over six years. No reasonable person could consider those hours excessive, particularly considering that we were up against more than a dozen lawyers – some of them eminent Supreme Court practitioners – from the D.C. Attorney General's office and three of the nation's largest and most elite law firms.

[...]

More: How much for the Heller case lawyers?

20081003 How much for the Heller case lawyers

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

20080528 Washington Examiner Editorial: Revenge, not statesmanship, blocking Bush’s nominees to undermine courts

Revenge, not statesmanship, blocking Bush’s nominees to undermine courts

2008-05-28 Editorial The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper
WASHINGTON -

It is difficult not to think of two words — lies and hypocrisy — when reviewing the promises and foot dragging on President Bush’s judicial nominees by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont. These two senators have arbitrarily blocked scores of qualified nominees without even giving them the courtesy of a committee vote.

[…]

As for Leahy, he is becoming infamous for ignoring his own stated standards for judicial nominations. Leahy has said American Bar Association ratings are “the Gold Standard by which judicial candidates are judged,” but now he is denying committee votes to nominees unanimously given the ABA’s highest rating…

[…]

Read the entire editorial here: Revenge, not statesmanship, blocking Bush’s nominees to undermine courts

####

4 hrs ago - Revenge, not statesmanship, blocking Bush’s nominees to undermine courts

1 day ago - Environmentalism is not about the environment

2 days ago - Right on entitlement reform

4 days ago - Hall of Shame for Capitol Hill GOP

5 days ago - Legalized property theft by Alexandria

6 days ago - Chill out on global warming

7 days ago - A shocking lack of accountability

8 days ago - Aspiring presidential wives aren’t exempt from discussion

9 days ago - Pigs in the trough on Capitol Hill

11 days ago - Telling the truth on polar bears, global warming

Sunday, May 18, 2008

20080516 Free speech at Columbia, 40 years later

Free speech at Columbia, 40 years later

Retrieved from “The Daily Judge” on Friday, May 16, 2008

http://www.thedailyjudge.com/

Forty years ago Gus Reichbach, a Columbia U. law student, was disciplined for his role in the student protests. Law profs later tried to block his admission to the bar. Eventually he became a judge. The other day he was back at Columbia Law to speak at a 40th anniversary event.

An NYT reporter was interviewing him when a campus cop came up and shut down the interview because the reporter hadn't gotten advance permission.

"I guess things haven't changed that much," the reporter quotes the judge as saying.

Corey Kilgannon, Columbia Protester, Now a Judge, Returns to Campus (NYT 04.26.2008).

[…]

Related: Campus Politics; Free Speech

20070925 Text of President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia

September 26, 2007 The Priceless Right to Free Speech Kevin E. Dayhoff

It has certainly been an interesting week for the exercise of our sacred right to freedom of speech in the United States. Various recent developments in this most cherished of rights provided a rich target environment for the news media, constitutional scholars, and pundits alike.

Certainly at the top of most anyone's kerfuffle was the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York on Sunday. In particular, there was his subsequent paradoxical pilgrimage to Columbia University on Monday.

As much as I am concerned, to say the least, about what it is that the Iranian president says, my problem is more with Columbia University's persistent inconsistencies about the sacred right to free speech.

The esteemed institution piously, self-righteously, if not - condescendingly - proclaims to be the standard-bearer for a "long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate," according to Columbia's president, Lee C. Bollinger.

Oh, pul-leeze! Columbia University extended an invitation to President Ahmadinejad, who many believe represents a country involved in the killing of Americans in uniform fighting in Iraq. However, the very military and its ROTC program, which defends our freedom of speech, are banned from the Columbia campus.

And that is just one example of the hypocrisy of the institution. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Columbia were to extend the courtesy to all Americans of varying political ideologies that it so easily extended to President Ahmadinejad?

Many are singing praises for Columbia President Bollinger for his stinging rebuke in the introduction of his guest. Then again, there are those of us who understand the paradox of President Bollinger's heroic Shakespearian soliloquy as a convenient - if not hypocritical - response to a conundrum he synthetically manufactured.

Read the rest here: The Priceless Right to Free Speech or here: 20070926 The Tentacle: The Priceless Right to Free Speech by Kevin E. Dayhoff

Saturday, February 25, 2006

20060224 Kelly’s Dream Deferred by Kevin E. Dayhoff

Kelly’s Dream Deferred by Kevin E. Dayhoff February 24, 2006

Another Case of Cronyism in the Ehrlich Administration by Progressive Maryland: Gov. Ehrlich has been called on his cronyism once again, this time in Allegany County. His nominee for Allegany’s District Court bench, friend and former colleague Del. Kevin Kelly, has been judged unfit for the job and summarily rejected by a judicial nominating commission made up of the governor's own appointees. The Allegany lock, The Baltimore Sun

Or find it here: 20060218 Another Case of Cronyism Progressive MD

Baltimore Sun: 20050828 Politics fills space around judicial vacancy by David Nitkin and Jennifer Skalka

20060217 “Vacant judge position filled” By David Nitkin

Vacant judge position filled Ehrlich picks Cumberland solicitor for seat that had been empty since 2004 By David Nitkin Sun reporter February 17, 2006

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has filled the longest judicial vacancy on a district court in Maryland, but not with a friend from the General Assembly who wanted the position.

*****

Kelly’s Dream Deferred by Kevin E. Dayhoff February 24, 2006

On February 16, it became official that a longstanding friend of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., conservative Western Maryland Democratic Del. Kevin Kelly, would not have his name submitted to fill the judicial vacancy of the District Court of Maryland for Allegany County.

In the political arena where disappointment is frequently greeted by silence and friends who stare at the floor, folks often don’t heed what Martin Luther King once said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Many Tentacle readers are aware of the hard work of Delegate Kelly and were disappointed to learn that he was not to be referred to in the future as Judge Kelly.

As a newly minted elected municipal official in the late 1990s, I have fond memories of those folks who were friendly and helpful as I tried to unravel the byzantine rituals of the Maryland General Assembly. Perhaps, first among equals in that helpful group was Delegate Kelly.

Most members of the Frederick and Carroll County delegations were very supportive.

Several of the other names that quickly come to mind when I think of friendly folks who went out of their way to lend a hand were: Del. Brian R. Moe (D., Anne Arundel/PG); Del. Bennett Bozman (D., Wicomico/Worcester); Del. Norman H. Conway (D., Wicomico/Worcester); Sen. Donald F. Munson (R., Washington); then-Del. Charles McClenahan (R., Somerset, Wicomico & Worchester); and Judge Paul G. Goetzke, then Annapolis city attorney.

Always quick with a smile and a joke, Delegate Kelly went out of his way on several occasions to help when I barely knew the difference between the House Environmental Matters and Economic Matters Committees.

Many had lost track of this current sideshow, since the judicial vacancy for the District Court of Maryland for Allegany County has been unfilled since the fall of 2004. It was announced last Friday that Delegate Kelly was passed over for H. Jack Price, Jr., the city solicitor for the mayor and city council of Cumberland since 1990.

[…]

Read my entire column here: Kelly’s Dream Deferred by Kevin E. Dayhoff February 24, 2006

20060224 Kelly’s Dream Deferred by Kevin E. Dayhoff

####

Monday, February 20, 2006

20060217 “Vacant judge position filled” By David Nitkin

Vacant judge position filled

Ehrlich picks Cumberland solicitor for seat that had been empty since 2004

By David Nitkin Sun reporter February 17, 2006

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has filled the longest judicial vacancy on a district court in Maryland, but not with a friend from the General Assembly who wanted the position.

The governor has named H. Jack Price, solicitor for the city of Cumberland since 1990 and a private practice lawyer, to a seat on the Allegany County District Court.

Price, 50, fills a vacancy created when Judge Paul J. Stakem announced his retirement in 2004.

[…]

Kelly submitted his name to a nominating panel but was found not qualified for the position. After meeting in December 2004, the panel submitted three names to the governor, but Ehrlich waited until yesterday before announcing the selection.

Meanwhile, criminal cases backed up in the district court - to the consternation of many courthouse veterans.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Vacant judge position filled

20060217 “Vacant judge position filled” By David Nitkin

####

20060218 Another Case of Cronyism Progressive MD

Another Case of Cronyism in the Ehrlich Administration by Progressive Maryland

Retrieved February 18, 2006

Gov. Ehrlich has been called on his cronyism once again, this time in Allegany County. His nominee for Allegany’s District Court bench, friend and former colleague Del. Kevin Kelly, has been judged unfit for the job and summarily rejected by a judicial nominating commission made up of the governor's own appointees. The Allegany lock, The Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.kelly04sep04,1,3587363.story?coll=bal-opinion-headlines

http://progressivemaryland.org/page.php?id=1136&subid=1122

Related: 20050828 Politics fills space around judicial vacancy by David Nitkin and Jennifer Skalka: Politics fills space around judicial vacancy Some say Ehrlich wants friend on list of nominees; Allegany seat empty since 2004 By David Nitkin, Sun Staff, August 28, 2005

20060218 Another Case of Cronyism Progressive MD

Thursday, September 01, 2005

20050828 Politics fills space around judicial vacancy by David Nitkin and Jennifer Skalka

Some say Ehrlich wants friend on list of nominees; Allegany seat empty since 2004

Politics fills space around judicial vacancy

Criminal cases are piling up in Allegany County, where a political standoff has left the District Court operating with one full-time judge since late last year.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who selects judges, was given the names of three candidates for the county's judicial vacancy by a nominating panel in December. But nine months later, he has yet to interview any of the finalists. As a result, Allegany County now has the longest-standing judicial vacancy in the state.

Some Republican leaders and court officials in Western Maryland say the holdup isn't because of who was nominated but who was not. The list does not include the name of Kevin Kelly, a Democratic state delegate from Allegany County and a longtime Ehrlich friend. Kelly applied for the position, but his candidacy was rejected by the panel.

[…]

John N. Bambacus, a former Republican state senator who teaches political science at Frostburg State University, called the District Court situation "a circus."

[…]

The episode provides a glimpse into the often-hidden world of judicial politics. On one side is a local power structure that has coalesced around a favored candidate. On the other is a first-term governor who does not back away from fights and rarely demonstrates a taste for compromising or deal-making.

Stuck in the middle are the users of the court system in Allegany County. The criminal docket is being scheduled into January, when normally cases would be heard in November, court officials say.

"The governor's first responsibility is to serve justice, not his friends," said Del. Kumar P. Barve, the House majority leader from Montgomery County. "He needs to appoint someone qualified very quickly. If he's delaying appointing somebody because he wants Kevin to be a judge, that's wrong. I can't think of any other reason why he hasn't appointed somebody by now."

[…]

"It would appear that Governor Ehrlich has lost control of the judicial nominating commission," said Bambacus, the Frostburg professor.

[…]

Sun staff writer Jennifer Skalka contributed to this article.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.judge28aug28,1,6997695.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

20050828 Politics fills space around judicial vacancy by David Nitkin and Jennifer Skalka