|
Judicial Branch made his opening state-
ment with the Majority Report he stated
that the Committee of the Judicial Branch
had refused to change the name of the
Court of Appeals in Maryland to the
Supreme Court because of the reverence
that the Court of Appeals was held in by
the lawyers of this state, not only of the
lawyers of this state, but by the lawyers
of this nation.
I say that what you are asked to do is
to discard a one hundred year old system
that brought forth the Maryland Court of
Appeals, which as the Chairman says has
been held in reverence in Maryland and
throughout the nation.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dorsey,
your time is up.
DELEGATE DORSEY: Very well.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Mr. Chairman, I
would like to yield three minutes to Dele-
gate Hanson.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Mr. Chairman,
for some two or three days I enjoyed the
editorial comments among the lawyers on
this floor. I speak here today with some
trepidation as a non-lawyer. I must confess
to being a political scientist. I hasten to
add that I never attended the Harvard Law
School. The need for reform of the courts
in Maryland, it seems to me, is at the
lower levels. If we make no changes at the
appellate level, I think we could continue
without too much difficulty.
I like the report of the Commission and
the changes it makes at the appellate level,
but however great the need is there, the
need is tenfold more at the lower court
level.
Again I hasten to add, I speak not as a
lawyer, not as one who has practiced in the
court, but as one who has attempted as a
citizen from time to time to influence the
quality of the courts in the State by help-
ing in the campaigns of judicial persons.
Now, how is the system working? What
happens when a man tries to run for judge
in a major county of the State? One of the
first problems is the collection of campaign
contributions and, I submit as a person who
believes strongly in politics, that the worst
place for a man to have to go out and get
campaign contributions is when he is run-
ning for judge. In one of the major metro-
politan counties of this State it costs a
|
minimum of $10,000 just to play the game
of running for office in a contested elec-
tion. If you have a hot contest, then you
better have $15 to $25 thousand available.
That kind of campaign money is not around
in $1 or $2 contributions from average citi-
zens who are simply interested in the good
and effective administration of justice in the
State. There is the problem that the judge-
ship race, being placed at the bottom of
the ticket, is not an important race in the
scheme of things in the elections of this
State or in any counties of this State.
What it means is that the party which hap-
pens to be winning in that particular year
is going to carry its candidate as a judge
even though the judge is running on what
is normally a non-partisan ticket.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have one-half
minute, Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: This, I submit,
Mr. Chairman, is not a satisfactory way to
choose a judge. If we are going to choose
a judge, we need to have a careful screen-
ing done before a man ascends to the
bench.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Johnson.
For what purpose does Delegate Malkus
rise?
DELEGATE MALKUS: I will ask the
professor if he will yield to a question.
THE CHAIRMAN: He has no time to
yield to a question at this point. He might
in the uncontrolled period.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Johnson.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: I will yield
three minutes to Delegate Rybczynski.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Rybczyn-
ski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: As a prac-
ticing attorney in private practice in the
city of Baltimore, I have been in this job
for thirteen yiears and if the actuaries of
the large insurance companies are correct,
I will be at it for approximately thirty-
five years more. So I would like to say one
or two things about the matter.
I, too, want screening of candidates for
the judiciary. I think this is important. I
think it is even more important that it be
done the way the Committee asks on the
appellate levels. This is important, but it
is not important on the trial court levels.
As I asked Delegate Mudd the other day,
how in the world can lay members of a
|
