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so I feel that I speak with some authority
on this subject, at least.
I regard this amendment as an extremely
dangerous one, and I hope it will be de-
feated. The truth of the matter is that the
attorney general has a duty in which he
really assumes a quasi-judicial office. He
is not primarily an executive, the gover-
nor's man. He is not anybody's man. He
gives advice and opinions in writing, which
since 1910 have built up an imposing body
of law, and in giving those opinions he is
not favoring one side or the other.
Now, I regard this blue paper which is
offered here as the bare bones that should
be in the constitution. It says whom he
represents. It says that he represents all
state departments and must give his opin-
ion in writing. It says that he shall have
the responsibility of representing the State
and the sole responsibility of handling
criminal cases on appeal. That is an ex-
tremely important function, particularly
since you are electing the state's attorneys,
and to have an elected official to pursue
those cases in the higher courts has worked
extremely well.
It gives him an objective view and gives
him much more influence in arguing those
cases in the higher court than if he had
been concerned with the heat of battle at
the trial stage.
The fact that he advises every state
department brings considerable order out
of what would otherwise be legal chaos,
and I think it should not be put in the hands
of the Legislature to take away those es-
sential functions of the office.
I hope the amendments will be defeated.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Ulrich, do
you desire to speak in favor of the amend-
ment ?
Delegate James ?
Does any delegate desire to speak in
favor of the amendment?
Delegate Sybert, do you still desire the
floor?
DELEGATE SYBERT: No.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cardin?
Are you ready for the question?
Delegate Gleason.
DELEGATE GLEASON: Mr. Chairman,
fellow delegates, let me say that in the
minds of the co-sponsors of this amend-
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ment the issue of an elected attorney gen-
eral has been decided and decided decisively
by the Committee of the Whole.
The question that we are dealing with
here is the question of what powers shall
rest in the office of the attorney general.
Under the Committee's recommendation,
it has been concluded that the attorney
general shall have in the future, as he has
had in the past, executive power, legislative
power and judicial power.
Since we are dealing here, it seems to me,
with delegated power of the people, we are
delegating power to a fourth branch of the
government, and to the extent that we are
delegating such power, we are subtracting
power from the three branches of the
government.
We have marched up the hill, as Delegate
Dorsey has said, and have delegated power
to the executive branch of the government,
to the legislative branch of the government,
and to the judicial branch of the govern-
ment, and we have done that with the
purpose of clarifying the areas of responsi-
bility between those branches. But here we
are confusing, in marching down the hill,
where that power shall rest.
The second point that I want to make is
this, that without exception we have pro-
vided for the traditional checks on powers
in one branch of the government by putting
that check into the other two branches of
the government.
The judiciary checks on the constitution-
ality of the acts of the executive and the
legislative. The executive, through the veto
and through appointive power, checks on
the judiciary and checks on the legislative.
The legislature, through its power over the
purse strings, the power to override legisla-
tion vetoed by the governor, checks on the
executive and the judiciary, but here the
Committee Recommendation says that we
are going to blow that check and people
will not know in the future, if we do not
clarify this responsibility, just who is re-
sponsible for government acts.
I certainly hope this amendment is sup-
ported.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are you ready for
the question?
(Call for the question.)
The Clerk will ring the quorum bell.
The question arises on the adoption of
Amendment No. 1 to Committee Recom-
mendation EB-2.
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