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commission know which of the lawyers in
a county such as Prince George's or Balti-
more or Montgomery or the city of Balti-
more are really eligible for the judiciary.
As to the opinion of the lawyers within
the bar association, I think this is impor-
tant and the majority takes cognizance of
this by way of the poll of lawyers.
I, too, have done some homework over
the weekend but I was really looking for
something else. There was an article in
the American Bar Journal some time ago
which opposed the Missouri Plan; I did not
find that, but I did find an article in the
September 1964 issue written by Bernard
G. Sieg-al of the Pennsylvania bar. He talks
non-partisan selection of judges. Now, Mr.
Chairman, their idea of non-partisan se-
lection of judges is a lot different from
what we are talking about here in this
Convention. In the proposals before us
there is only one way to become a judge,
and that is through selection by this four-
man or five-man or eleven-man commission,
and no other way; whereas in Philadelphia
and in Pennsylvania there is a very differ-
ent system. Their idea, proposed and en-
acted by Governor Scranton is that a com-
mission do the original screening, and that
a list is then submitted to the Judiciary
Committee of the Bar Association. What
is even more important is that the gover-
nor reserved unto himself the right to re-
quest additional panels. Obviously the sys-
tem is tremendously different from that
being proposed within the majority report.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Rybczyn-
ski, your time is up.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: I would
strongly urge the adoption of this amend-
ment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: I yield three min-
utes to Delegate Hodge Smith.
DELEGATE J. H. SMITH: Mr. Chair-
man and fellow delegates: I am not a Har-
vard lawyer. I am a Maryland lawyer, like
Delegate Dorsey, but I am not as dis-
tinguished an orator as he is.
I am completely sold on this plan and
have been for several years. We are get-
ting back to anatomy. This is the guts or
the heart of the merit plan, or Niles plan.
The appellate level of judges is the place
where we least need this plan. By the time
the man gets to a stature that he is eligible
or qualified for service on our highest
courts he is pretty much above the political
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arena. It has been very seldom in recent
years that politics has played any part in
our intermediate appellate court or the
Court of Appeals.
Judges do not have to present any poli-
cies; they are not running on partisan
political basis. A judicial candidate cannot
go out and say, "I have more integrity
than my opponent." He cannot say, "I am
a better lawyer than my opponent; I would
be an excellent judge."
What he is faced with is putting himself
up on the political auction block and say-
ing, "Vote for me." He has to go to the
local political machine so that at least he
will be on the sample ballot, and it is really
just a popularity contest from that time on.
The question was asked here the other
day: Don't we trust the voters? This was
a loaded question, and it was meant to be
loaded. Certainly we trust the voters, but
how can a voter make an intelligent choice
when he does not know what a man's quali-
fications are?
In the urban counties it is impossible to
know what the man's qualifications are.
The voters know he has practiced law. They
know he is a lawyer, and that is about all
they know.
THE CHAIRMAN: For what purpose
does Delegate Malkus rise?
DELEGATE MALKUS: Will you yield
to a question?
THE CHAIRMAN: The inquiry is made
whether you desire to yield to a question.
You have about twenty seconds left.
DELEGATE J. H. SMITH: No.
If we assume that election on a partisan
basis is the worst, what is the best? We
think we have given you a compromise. It
is a plan that has been tried. It is nothing
new. It worked for twenty-seven years in
Missouri. It has been adopted in one form
or another in fourteen states in this union,
and I ask you to support it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Johnson.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: Before I call
on our next speaker, the amendment deals
with selection. Everyone has been talking
about election. This is selection. Do not be
confused by it.
I would like to yield three minutes to
Delegate Blair.
DELEGATE BLAIR: I disagree that
this is divisible and that the elective process
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