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NEWS CONFERENCE
December 6, 1967

I don't have any announcements or anything to venture forth with
so I will open it up to your questions.

Q. Governor, it was announced officially this morning that Mayor
D'Alesandro has asked Judge Russell to serve as his City Solicitor, and
Mr. Russell said that he would give an answer as quickly as possible.
If he says yes this means that you have a judgeship, and my question
is, "Does it necessarily follow that this judgeship will go to a Negro
since a precedent has been established?"

A. My procedures on judgeships have been that I await lists from the
bar associations before I make any determination about whom to ap-
point to the vacancies. I will of course want lists from the Maryland
State Bar, the Baltimore City Bar, the Monumental Bar and any other
interested associations of lawyers and will make a determination of
filling this vacancy from the lists and from my personal knowledge of
the qualifications of the individuals. I don't think that the matter of
race should enter into this question in any fashion and this does not
presuppose that I will not appoint a qualified Negro judge to replace
Judge Russell should he accept this appointment from the City ad-
ministration. But I don't think when we're filling a job of this type
we should start out on the premise that we are going to look for a
person of a particular race or religion or belief. I think we should
look for the most qualified lawyer, and that's what I intend to do.
Q. Governor, if the Constitution prescribes, as has been suggested,
that you be authorized, that the Governor be authorized, to appoint
his own personal counsel, would this lawyer, his opinions, have the
same effect as the Attorney General's or would he have to go back to
the Attorney General for final approval?

A. I haven't seen the provision in its total form so I'm really not
qualified to answer the inquiry that you just made to me. Let me say
this, that I haven't found it necessary to double check the Attorney
General in this term of office nor do I expect to find it necessary. I'm
not worried about the need for personal counsel to any appreciable
extent with the incumbent Attorney General. Now, I can understand
the reason for the provision, and it may so happen that a future gov-
ernor may find himself not as advantageously situated in this respect
as I am.

Q. Can we assume then that this is not your proposal that the Con-
stitutional Convention is considering?