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relate to substantial power, which are given
under the language; they are prescribed by
law. In the first 11 sections, if my count is
correct, "prescribed and provided by law"
is included 11 times, and the provision of
prescription by rule is only six, and after
our action this morning, has now been re-
duced to five.
I do not think that is an unhappy bal-
ance, and would urge that this amendment
be defeated.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak in favor?
Delegate Raley?
DELEGATE RALEY: Mr. Chairman, as
I look at this, it seems to me that if this
amendment passes as it now stands in the
committee report, forever more no one but
the court system itself could ever make
provisions for any type of new courts, no
matter what the needs might be, to meet
the needs of our people.
Now, I think this article is excellent, but
I do not think either that only the judiciary
has a corner on all new and creative ideas,
and I might say this, and I say it maybe
reluctantly, but our judiciary in this State
has not blazed any new trails, as I have
seen it, and it seems to me fundamental
that somehow people's representatives
should have the ability and the power to
bring some new and creative ideas into the
judicial system of this State in the future.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair recog-
nizes Delegate Henderson to speak in oppo-
sition to the amendment.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: Mr. Chair-
man, fellow delegates, I think it is un-
fortunate that this argument seems to have
taken a turn as if we were trying to give
some unknown or some extreme power to
the courts.
I for one am very much in favor, and
have always welcomed and have played a
part for the last twenty-five years in the
arrangements between the Rules Commit-
tee and the Court of Appeals, on one side
or the other, and our relationships with
the legislature have always been very
happy ones.
In some cases the court has yielded, in
others the legislature has yielded.
The most recent example, which is even
now going on, is a joint meeting of the
subcommittee of the Rules Committee,
working out with the Legislative Council
matters involving the whole subject of bail,
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for example, trying to separate the sub-
stantive from the procedural and striking
a common ground, and I have no fears at
all that at least in the procedural field
there will be any major disagreements.
The Rules Committee and the Court of
Appeals have always been willing to yield
to the legislature's suggestions in matters
of policy or in matters which affect sub-
stance.
The legislature, on the other hand, has
left procedural matters almost exclusively
to the Court of Appeals. That is the way
it should be.
Now, here we are dealing with some-
thing, however, which involves the best
use of judicial manpower, I take it. The
question is whether for example in Balti-
more City we should recognize the distinc-
tion which is made there between criminal
and civil cases in the district courts. They
are handled separately.
In the law courts there is a difference
between law and equity. There are various
other functional divisions which exist and
which will undoubtedly be continued, but
to say that the legislature can tell the
court how best to handle the jurisdiction
which the legislature confers on the court
seems to me to be a wide departure from
both sound practice and the present prac-
tice.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair recog-
nizes Delegate Weidemeyer to speak in
favor of the amendment.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Mr.
President, members of the Convention,
again I rise to favor this type of amend-
ment. I imagine whether we adopt the
amendment or not, as a practical matter,
the court will immediately make the neces-
sary rules and arrangements, but to freeze
it into the constitution, and that is the way
it will always be, whether it suits the pub-
lic or not, would be making a very big
mistake. I just picked up an article here
in the paper where members of the bar in
Montgomery County were making a com-
plaint to the bench about functional mat-
ters up there.
I would imagine that that court would
heed the wishes of the members of the bar,
and make such corrections in its function
as will please and give service to the public
of that area, but on the other hand, if the
court did not do it, I would want the power
in the legislature to lay down some law to
correct the situation, so that the voice of
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