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THE CHAIRMAN: Very well, the Chair
announces it will call up Delegate Grant's
immediately after consideration of Amend-
ment No. 13.
You may proceed to discuss Amendment
No. 13, Delegate Johnson.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: Mr. Chairman,
as I understand it, we are dealing now
only with Amendment No. 13. That is
Amendment No. B of the Minority Com-
mittee. Is that the only amendment before
us.
THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: I believe they
are divisible, but I wanted to make our '
position clear that we are also in favor of
the anticipated amendment to be supplied
by Delegate Grant.
Mr. Chairman and fellow delegates, in
the view of the minority and many other
delegates, I submit that this is probably
the most important amendment that has
been before you today, and that probably
will be before you because of the lateness
of the hour.
I commented upon the reasons why the
minority felt so strongly about this, first in
the general presentation and then in the
presentation of the minority report earlier
this afternoon.
May I make just a few other brief com-
ments, and ask that you take these com-
ments into serious consideration?
5
If you believe that the creation of an
office, that is, the establishment of an office,
the manner in which it is to be filled, the
length of term of the employees, if you
believe these matters are in fact judicial
matters or judicial functions, then you will
vote against this amendment.
If, on the other hand, you want to retain
the office of judge, with all the respect that
it both needs and deserves, then you will
protect the judiciary from this unprece-
dented power grab, and I might add a
power grab that has not been sought by
the judiciary or by the judicial system of
Maryland.
If in fact you want to protect our sound
judicial system from these problems, you
will vote in favor of the amendment.
Upon the adoption of this amendment,
judges of course will be permitted by the
legislature to hire secretaries and bailiffs
"within" the immediate personal office of
the judge. This is right and proper, we sub-
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mit. But to extend this nonjudicial func-
tion would be the greatest blow we could
render to our state judicial system.
We submit that inasmuch as no other
state permits this type of legislative func-
tion on the part of its judiciary, Maryland
will stand out like a sore thumb.
Unless you want our judges to subject
themselves to both partisan and nonparti-
san pressures, to defend themselves to the
charges that will almost assuredly be made
by disgruntled job applicants and dis-
missed commissioners, then you will vote,
and I urge you to vote, in favor of this
amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair recog-
nizes Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Mr. Chairman,
ladies and gentlemen of the Committee of
the Whole: this is a matter that was dis-
cussed at some length, as Delegate John-
son has suggested, at the time I attempted
to present the majority recommendation to
this Convention, and also by Delegate John-
son as part of his minority report.
Frankly, it is the view of the majority
that this is a very minor function that
will have to be performed by the district
court judges under the proposed majority
recommendation in selecting and assigning
the responsibilities to these commissioners.
We do not envision any type of political
machine or political hierarchy that these
district judges, however so inclined they
might be, we hope they will not be, by
virtue of the power to appoint commis-
sioners. It is not that these commissioners
will be part-time employees.
In the first place, I think it probably will
be extremely difficult in some areas to find
exactly the type of individual who will ac-
cept this type of assignment. It is a trouble-
some one. The need can occur at any time
of the day or night, holidays as well as
weekends, and to perform the responsibility
efficiently and well, to accommodate the
needs of the district court, you must have
an individual who is amenable to sugges-
tion and advice and counsel from the dis-
trict judge.
Accordingly, it is felt that it would defi-
nitely weaken the court structure, adminis-
tration and efficiency that the majority en-
visions for this judicial article if the ap-
pointment, tenure and responsibility of
these commissioners is not entirely and di-
rectly with the district judges.
This idea is not unique. This is not the
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