A Guide to Six Significant Maryland Appellate Cases
1821-1972

Archives of Maryland Documents for the Classroom
Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (410) 260-6400


Seal, Court of Appeals Seal, Court of Special Appeals
At the request of the Honorable Glenn Harrell and Robert Zarnoch Esq., the Maryland State Archives prepared materials relating to "A Court of Appeals Time Capsule: Six Historic Arguments in the Nation's Oldest Appellate Court" which was presented to the annual meeting of the Maryland Bar Association on June 10, 1999, narrated by the Honorable Diana G. Motz. See also "A Court of Appeals Time Capsule: Six Historic Arguments in the Nation's Oldest Appellate Court" in University of Baltimore Law Forum, Summer/Fall 1999, Issue 30.1, pp. 13-27.


The State v. Buchanan, 5 H. & J. 317 (1821)
Attorneys: District Attorney Henry M. Murray and Daniel Raymond, Esq.
Issue: Could the State prosecute officers of the Baltimore Branch of the Bank of the U.S. for conspiracy to defraud the Bank and its directors?

Baltimore v. State, 15 Md. 386 (1860)
"The Baltimore Police Bill Case"
Attorneys: Thomas Alexander and Campbell & Johnson
Issue: Could the General Assembly eliminate the Baltimore City police force and create a State entity to enforce laws in the City?

Weyler v. Gibson, 110 Md. 636 (1909)
Attorneys: Attorney General Isaac Lobe Straus, William S. Bryan, Frederick Fletcher, and Randolph Barton, Jr.
Issue: Would it deprive a landowner of property without due process if he could not sue State officials for taking possession of his land to expand the Maryland Penitentiary?
Summary: The plaintiffs sued the Warden of the Maryland Penitentiary to recover property seized in order to expand the prison.

University v. Murray, 169 Md. 478 (1936)
Attorneys: Assistant Attorney General Henderson and Thurgood Marshall
Issue: Does a racially segregated University of Maryland Law School violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Summary: Donald Gaines Murray, represented by Thurgood Marshall, sues the University of Maryland Law School upon being denied entrance on the grounds he was not accommodated under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Schowgurow v. Maryland, 240 Md. 121 (1965)
Attorneys: J. Grahame Walker and Roger Redden
Issue: Can the State constitutionally require jurors to profess a belief in God?
Summary: Lidge Schowgurow, an adherent of the Buddhist faith, challenged his murder conviction on the grounds that the jury had been asked to demonstrate a belief in God during the selection process.

Stuart v. Board of Elections, 266 Md. 440 (1972)
Attorneys: Arold H. Ripperger and Assistant Attorney General E. Stephen Derby
Issue: May a married woman register to vote in her birth name?
Summary: Mary Emily Stuart, a married woman, challenges the Board of Elections' decision to cancel her voter registration on the basis that she had registered under her maiden name.


The Documents for the Classroom series of the Maryland State Archives was designed and developed by Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse and Dr. M. Mercer Neale and was prepared with the assistance of R. J. Rockefeller, Lynne MacAdam, Leigh Bond, Matt Brown, Laura Lisy and other members of the Archives staff. MSA SC 2221-24. © 1998 Maryland State Archives, rev. Dec. 2004.

© Copyright August 18, 1998 Maryland State Archives


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