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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Smith.
DELEGATE M. SMITH: What Delegate
Hargrove has told you with reference to
the compromise of the Committee on the
superior court is correct. The vote was 9
to 9 with one abstention.
On the question of appoining a clerk or
electing a clerk — and I suppose that if
one of us who had voted some other time
or most of the time, had voted the vote
for appointment, this is what would have
come out on the floor.
The district court system is an attempt
for the politicians to reach out and get
some things, some goodies. In the area in
which I have operated, I have noted that
the clerks to the trial magistrates were ap-
pointed by the trial magistrates. I would
hope that we leave it precisely as it is
written here, and what is basically the
present system which is that the courts
select the clerks at the lowest level.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Mr. Chairman, I
yield three minutes to Delegate Marion.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Mr. Chairman,
I will not take all of that time. I do not
want to belabor this issue. The arguments
have been stated by my two predecessors
who have spoken to this; I believe the of-
fice of the clerk and the judicial functions
which the clerks perform are or should be,
if they are not now, an integral part of
the proper administration of justice and
the administration of the court system.
For that reason, I believe this amend-
ment should be defeated, because I think
that that puts a chink in what should be
the orderly administration of the clerks'
offices to really an arm of a court in han-
dling the courts docket and matters per-
taining to court administration.
I urge defeat of the amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Johnson.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: Mr. Chairman
and fellow delegates, I would like to point
out that the amendment that is before us
lost before our Committee by a vote of 9
to 10. I would further like to point out that
although an arrangement similar to what
Delegate Hargrove indicated is in existence
in certain courts in Baltimore City, what
we are concerned about is the entire ju-
dicial system throughout the State.
Someone will have to spell out for me
why is it allegedly evil or political for the
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minority to seek consistency in the judicial
article by providing for the designation of
clerks in a manner prescribed by law on
the District court level, when the majority
would have you believe that there is a di-
vision, and any division should resolve it-
self on a superior court level.
I guess it really boils down to if you do
not want to do something, any reason is as
good as any other.
Now, it seems to me if the majority
thinks that the superior court judges should
be selected in a manner prescribed by law,
you should make the majority be consistent
in this particular round. You should re-
move the judges in our state from this
political patronage situation, and I believe
that one will exist as a result of this, and
let the legislature designate clerks of the
court, their manner of selection and ap-
pointment; first of all their manner of
selection on a superior court level, and
their manner of appointment for the sake
of term on the district court level.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd, you
have approximately four minutes.
DELEGATE MUDD: I will use one and
a half, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Committee
of the Whole: The difference in our recom-
mendations where the spokesman for the
minority appears not to see the difference
is that with respect to clerks in the superior
court, we ask that the legislature, by law,
provide for the selection.
That would include the right of the
legislature to provide for the election or
appointment of superior court clerks which
we feel is properly left to the wisdom of
the legislature.
With respect to the district court clerks,
both the minority and majority agree that
they should be appointed. The only dif-
ference this amendment proposes to make
is in the appointment and terms, that is,
the method of appointment, by whom it
should be made and terms prescribed by
law. We feel it is essential to the proper
administration of justice, particularly at
this lower level in courts of limited juris-
diction, that the appointment of these
clerks be by rule, because it is the function
of the rule of court, rather than rule of
law, to effectively operate the court system.
We therefore respectfully urge that you
defeat this amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Any delegate de-
sire to speak in favor of the amendment?
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