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must be eliminated and the lower courts
must have full-time salaried jobs."
I respectfully suggest to the ladies and
gentlemen of this Convention that his num-
ber one requirement has already been
adopted by a majority vote of this Com-
mittee of the Whole. He has two other
recommendations which are yet to be sub-
mitted by our majority report to this Com-
mittee of the Whole, but other recommen-
dations, he says, are essential, are these:
first, merit the selection of judges, divorced
from politics must be instituted; second, a
compulsory retirement system with ade-
quate retirement compensation; third, a
system for assigning retired judges, and
finally, a method of impeachment for the
removal of the incompetent or incapacitated
judge.
We respectfully suggest that the Recom-
mendation of your Committee on the Ju-
dicial Branch has adopted in substance,
particularly with reference to the subject
matter now presented to the Committee of
the Whole for consideration, the essentials
which the president of the American Bar
Association has determined from his ex-
tensive study and review are most essen-
tial in the modernization and improvement
of our court system and in the administra-
tion of justice.
I feel that the details of the Recommen-
dation of the Committee with respect to
selection and tenure are set out in language
which should be clear and understandable
to the lay as well as the law members of
this Convention. I will, therefore, not de-
tail the component parts of the overall
plan. This is not technical language. It
should be meaningful to every member of
this Convention.
I will be happy to answer any questions
that are required to clarify the plan and I
hope that these few words have given you
the essentials sufficient for you to under-
stand our proposal, but if not, I will be
happy to answer any questions.
(Second Vice-President William James
assumed the chair.)
DELEGATE JAMES (PRESIDING):
Are there any questions for the purpose of
clarification? Delegate Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Chairman
Mudd, I notice in section 5.21, lines 49 and
50, with regard to the poll by secret ballot
of the lawyers of the area in which the
judge is required to stand for election, and
so forth, whether or not the judge would
be seeking election. I just wonder what the
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thinking of the Committee was. I am think-
ing of a situation where a judge might not
want to stand for re-election or election
and want quietly to disappear. There does
not seem to be any provision here that
would enable him to do that.
DELEGATE MUDD: It was certainly
not our intention to require that the poll
be taken with respect to any incumbent
judge who did not desire to seek re-elec-
tion and if any improvement in the lan-
guage is necessary to clarify that situa-
tion, we would certainly not resist it. I can
assure you it was not our intention to re-
quire an incumbent judge to stand or to
allow this poll to be taken if he did not
desire to seek re-election.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Thank you.
(President H. Vernon Eney resumed the
chair.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any fur-
ther questions of the Committee Chairman?
Delegate Burdette?
DELEGATE BURDETTE: Mr. Chair-
man, I have two related questions of the
Chairman of the Committee. Might I ask,
please, sir, what the definition or intent
of the Committee may be with respect to
the word "lawyer", as used in these para-
graphs?
DELEGATE MUDD: The definition of
"lawyer"?
DELEGATE BURDETTE: As here in-
tended.
DELEGATE MUDD: I would say it in-
tends to be a lawyer admitted to practice
before the Court of Appeals of Maryland.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Burdette.
DELEGATE BURDETTE: May I ask
the related question: are the members —
I am not quite sure of all the legal facts
— is a member of the judiciary within the
category of lawyer?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Yes.
DELEGATE BURDETTE: In that case,
would I conclude correctly that the lawyers
for the nominating commission might elect
a very considerable body of the judiciary
if they should so desire?
DELEGATE MUDD: Within the defini-
tion I have just given you of lawyer, in-
cluding judge, that is possible, but that
was not the intention of the committee rec-
ommendation.
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