Marcella A. Holland
MSA SC 3520-2640
Extended Biography:
After eight years as a legal secretary/aide, Marcella Holland decided to go back to school, obtaining both her college degree and a law degree. Since then, she has become one of the top women in Maryland, winning numerous awards and earning the public's respect as Circuit Court Judge for Baltimore City.
Holland is a Baltimore native, born there on August 31, 1947. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1980 and three years later received her law degree from the University of Maryland Law School. In 1984 she joined the State's Attorney Office in its juvenile and trial divisions before being assigned to the economic crimes unit in 1988.1 In the years leading up to her judgeship, Holland investigated and prosecuted major thefts, fraud, arson, and arson homicide cases.2
To help alleviate heavy caseloads the Maryland General Assembly created a new judgeship in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, and Marcella Holland was named to fill this new position. In 2001 Judge Holland took charge of the court’s family division. There, she has been responsible for all programs provided for by the family division, including parent education, mediation for child custody and visitation, and domestic violence.3 Holland was one of a number of judges involved in a program that uses children’s artwork to try to make the family court less frightening for children.4
Holland has been very active in Maryland’s legal community. She has served as Judge at Large on the Court Management Committee for the Baltimore County Circuit Court, President of the Monumental City Bar Association, and Co-chair of the Maryland NBA Planning Committee for the 1995 NBA Convention in Baltimore. She is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Maryland Bar Journal and the Executive Council of the Baltimore City Bar Association. She has also been a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the National Black Prosecutors Association, and the Board of Governors of the National Bar Association.5
In addition to her extensive involvement with law organizations, Holland has devoted much of her time to the community. She has been very involved with the YMCA, serving on the Board of Managers for the Druid Hill YMCA and chairing the YMCA Black Achievers Program. Holland has also chaired the Commission on Historic and Architectural Preservation for Baltimore City and the AFRAM Art/Jazz Show and served as both a board member and president of the Courthouse and Law Museum Foundation. To help give back to the younger generations, Holland participates in the Lake Clifton Shadowing Programs, allowing teen-agers to follow her daily activities to better learn about the law and her profession.6
The community has recognized Holland's many contributions, bestowing on her a number of awards. She has twice been cited as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women, was the 1996 Volunteer of the Year at the Druid Hill YMCA, and in 1993 she was named a Distinguished Black Marylander by Towson State University. She has been presented with the Fullwood Foods Valued Hours Award, the Associated Managers Meritorious Civic Service Award, the Thurgood Marshall Founders Award from the Monumental City Bar Association, and the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from the Coalition of 100 Black Women.7
Judge Holland's many awards speak to her achievements in both the legal profession and the general community. Her determination to succeed, which drove her to go back to school after eight years of work, has paid off, and her efforts and accomplishments now serve as an excellent model for others to follow.
Judge Holland retired from the bench on November 30, 2013.
Notes:
1. "Glendening
announces appointment of three Baltimore circuit judges," The
Baltimore Sun, 3 September 1997.
2. "Three
New City Judges to Don Robes," The Daily Record, 2 September 1997.
3. "Circuit Judge Holland takes
over family division." The Baltimore Sun, 7 March 2001.
4. "Children's art brightens
up court area; Pictures in family division are to make it less scary."
The Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2001.
5. Maryland's Top 100 Women (2000), The Daily Record.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
Biography written by Jennifer Copeland, summer intern, Maryland State Archives
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