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makes several changes. First, the language
of the present Constitution infers that the
governor has power to nolle prosequi the
case
Only one instance of exercise of this
power has been found. The Committee feels
that the governor should not be able to in-
tervene in criminal proceedings until crim-
inal prosecution has ended. Therefore, this
section does not give the governor that
power.
Second, the requirements of public no-
tice of instances of the exercise of the gov-
ernor's power of clemency have been al-
tered. The requirement of newspaper notice
publicizing the exercise of this power has
been deleted because of the embarrass-
ment it might occasion the pardoned of-
fender. At the same time the Committee
feels that a public record of the instances
of the exercise of the clemency power is an
essential safeguard. Therefore, this sec-
tion requires that the governor file an an-
nual report with the Court of Appeals
which shall be a public record.
Third, this section expressly gives the
governor power to grant commutations. Al-
though the governor has long exercised
this power, it is not expressly given to him
by the Article II, section 20 of the present
Constitution.
The last section of the Committee Rec-
ommendation deals with the office of state's
attorney and provides that there shall be
a state's attorney popularly elected. The
Committee recommends, however, that all
public matter of the requirement that he
be popularly elected be left to the legisla-
tive determination, such as matters relating
to the geographical areas which each state's
attorney shall represent, the filling of va-
cancies and the terms of office, qualifica-
tions for holding office, all of which are
found in Article V, sections 7 to 12 of the
present Constitution.
The Committee feels that the state's at-
torney should be elected to assure that he
will be responsive to the dominant law en-
forcement views of the community, but
that the details should not be included in
the constitution so the General Assembly
can from time to time make changes if this
is necessary.
That concludes my presentation of the
Committee Recommendation.
(James Clark, First Vice President, as-
sumed the Chair.)
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
The Chair recognizes Delegate Dorsey.
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DELEGATE DORSEY: A point of per-
sonal privilege. I see two distinguished
citizens of St. Mary's County, Mr. Steve
Young and Mr. James A. Somswell.
Mr. Young is President of the St. Mary's
County Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. I would
like to introduce them to the Convention.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
We are very glad to have them here.
(Applause.)
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Are there any questions of Chairman Mor-
gan?
The Chair recognizes Delegate Gleason.
DELEGATE GLEASON: Mr. Chairman,
I am sure you went over this in your pre-
sentation, but with respect to section 4.12,
page 5 of the Report, will you go over
again the justification giving the governor
the power to call back one chamber of the
legislature, just the Senate instead of call-
ing both chambers back?
It is section 4.13.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: The governor
in the case of the heads of the principal
departments must appoint the heads of
those departments only with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
It is perfectly true that the governor
under another section of our recommenda-
tion has the power to fill vacancies tempo-
rarily by making an interim appointment
if the legislature is not in session, but the
Committee thought that on occasion some
people would not desire to have interim ap-
pointments. They would want to know be-
fore they took office whether they were
satisfactory to the Senate or not.
Under those circumstances, the gover-
nor could call the Senate back into session
and ask the Senate to give its advice and
consent with respect to the appointment.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Gleason.
DELEGATE GLEASON: Mr. Chairman,
would you agree that the power to call a
chamber of a legislature, back into special
session is a power that should only be used
under extraordinary occasions? Would the
appointment of a head of the department
justify in your judgment and in the mem-
bers of the Committee's judgment the
utilization of that kind of power?
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