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DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: No, thank
you.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate James.
DELEGATE JAMES: Mr. Chairman, may
I ask a question of Delegate Gallagher?
THE CHAIRMAN: State your question.
DELEGATE JAMES: Delegate Gallagher,
would not such functions as consumer pro-
tection and control over registration of
securities, and possibly over law enforce-
ment and this type of thing be divested
from the Attorney General's office under
your proposal?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: No, not
necessarily. I would leave these things,
Senator James, to the General Assembly,
which has an opportunity from year to year
to measure the wants of the State and the
needs of the State.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate James.
DELEGATE JAMES: My point is, put-
ting it in the form of a question, if this
language is in the article and the legisla-
ture would continue the consumer protec-
tion type of enforcement, would not a de-
fendant in a proceeding be able to raise a
question that the Attorney General was act-
ing improperly in an executive capacity
rather than a legal capacity ?
In other words, would you not, by nar-
rowing his duties, enable any defendant to
raise a question that the Attorney General
was operating in an improper area?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Any defend-
ant may raise any defense. How successful
the defense would be would depend upon
the judge who heard the case.
I believe that it has been professed here
that we do not intend to detract from the
executive power of the governor when we
create the office of attorney general. All I
propose to do by the amendment is to ascer-
tain that by the written word.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weidemeyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Mr. Gal-
lagher, I want to ask you this. Do you
think that the people of Maryland honestly
would stand pat for a constitution that
provided for them to elect an officer and
then for somebody else to find some work
for him to do?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
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DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I have no
way of measuring wnat the people of
Maryland will or will not stand for. I do
believe that the General Assembly will act
responsibly, and if it believes that the lan-
guage which has been proposed here by
way of duties and powers for the constitu-
tion ought to be conferred upon the at-
torney general, that the General Assembly
will do so by statute, and I have every ex-
pectation that that would be the case.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weidemeyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Would you
be happy with a General Assembly that
wanted to strip the attorney general of
any duty or just give him such duties as
they may want to give him?
TPIE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I would not
be happy with a General Assembly that
would act so irresponsibly as to deprive
itself of its legal advisor, or any depart-
ment of the State of its legal advisor. I
cannot conceive that that would happen.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weidemeyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: If we are
going to elect an officer, do you not think
that we and the people of the State of
Maryland ought to know, when we elect
him, what his constitutional duties are?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: Delegate Gallag-
her, are you suggesting that in criminal
cases the attorney general should consult
the governor before he appeals a criminal
case?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I believe
there may be times when that is perfectly
appropriate and perfectly proper, but I
have really not addressed myself to a final
solution of that problem by my amendment.
This would be determined as a matter of
policy by the General Assembly.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: I thought you just
said that in all cases of appeal the attorney
general should not act before consulting the
governor.
TPIE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I think that
as a general proposition the State of Mary-
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