454/Maryland Manual

series for continuing legal education, 1973-1974; mem-
ber, Review Board, Attorney Grievance Commission of
Maryland, 1975-1979. Law clerk to Judge William L.
Henderson, Maryland Court of Appeals, 1961; assistant
U.S. attorney, 1962-1964; trial magistrate, Washington
County, 1965-1967; state's attorney, Washington Coun-
ty, 1971-1975. Member, Board of Visitors (president),
Maryland School for the Deaf, 1965-1982. Member,
Washington County Council on Alcoholism; Alcohol-
ism Services, Inc.; Washington County Alcoholism and
Drug Abuse Advisory Councils. Judge, District 11, Dis-
trict Court of Maryland, 1979-1982. Married; 4 chil-
dren.

JAMES WILLIAM MUKPHY. Eighth Judicial Cir-
cuit, 1970—. Born in Baltimore, February 21, 1926.
Attended Mt. St. Joseph's High School; Loyola College;
University of Maryland, J.D., 1950. Admitted to the
Maryland Bar, 1950. Served in the U.S. Army in
WWII. Assistant state's attorney for Baltimore City,
1953-1962. Married; 3 children.

WILLIAM H. MURPHY, JR. Eighth Judicial Circuit,
1980—. Bom April 22, 1943, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Attended MIT, Boston, degree in electrical engineering,
1965; University of Maryland School of Law, J.D.,
1969. Admitted to the Maryland bar, 1969. Law clerk
to the Honorable Robert C. Murphy, Chief Judge,
Maryland Court of Special Appeals, 1969-1970; on
staff of Sen. Joseph D. Tydings, 1968; partner in private
law practice, 1970-1973, sole practitioner, 1973-1980.
Founder and past president, Black American Law Stu-
dents Association, University of Maryland; member,
Law Review. University of Maryland; secretary/
treasurer. Young Democrats, University of Maryland
School of Law. Member, American Bar Association;
Monumental City Bar Association. Director, Baltimore
Afro-American newspaper, 1971-1973; president. Col-
lege of Criminal Trial Lawyers, 1975; former host,
WJZ-TV Sunday Live, 1979; panelist, WJZ-TV Square
Off program, 1979. Married; 4 children.

J. THOMAS NISSEL. Fifth Judicial Circuit, 1980—.
Bom in Baltimore, December 29, 1930. Attended paro-
chial schools in Baltimore County; Loyola College,
B.A., 1952; University of Maryland School of Law,
LL.B., 1955; J.D., 1969. Admitted to the Maryland
Bar, 1955. Member, Maryland State Bar Association;
Trial Lawyers Law Club. Director, Howard County Bar
Association, 1975-1976. Office of the Attorney General,
1957-1964; state's attorney for Howard County, 1966;
county attorney for Howard County, 1967; associate
judge, Howard County Peoples Court, 1970; chief
judge, Howard County Peoples Court, 1971. Chairman,
Howard County Lawyer Referral, 1968-1969. Adminis-
trative Judge, District Court, District 10, 1971-1980.
Married; 6 children.

JOSEPH I. PINES. Eighth Judicial Circuit, 1980—.
Bom in New York City, February 16, 1922. Attended

Circuit Court Biographies

the University of Baltimore, LL.B., 1942; LL.M., 1948;
Johns Hopkins University, M.L.A., 1975. Admitted to
the Maryland Bar, 1943. Member, American, Maryland
State, and Baltimore City Bar Associations; American
Trial Lawyers Association; Maryland Trial Lawyers As-
sociation. Married; 2 children.

RICHARD M. POLLITT. First Judicial Circuit,
1972—; Chief Judge and Circuit Administrative Judge.
Bom in Allen, Wicomico County, April 30, 1927.
Attended Wicomico County Public Schools; Salisbury
State College, 1946; University of Maryland School of
Law, LL.B., 1949. Admitted to the Maryland Bar,
1949. Member, Maryland State and Wicomico County
Bar Associations; delegate, National Conference of
State Trial Judges, 1975-1977. Special assistant attorney
general, 1959-1972. Member, Lions Club; BPOE. Mar-
ried; 2 children.

JOHN E. RAINE, JR. Third Judicial Circuit, 1956—;
Chief Judge. Bom in Towson, May 12, 1917. Attended
McDonogh School; Johns Hopkina University, A.B.,
1938; University of Maryland, LL.B., 1941. Admitted
to the Maryland Bar, 1941. Former member, American,
Maryland State, and Baltimore County Bar Associa-
tions. State's attorney for Baltimore County, 1950-
1956. Order of the Coif; Omicron Delta Kappa; Man of
the Year Award, Greater Towson Chamber of Com-
merce, 1967. Former president, Childrens Aid Society;
Exalted Ruler, Towson Lodge Elks. Married; 2 chil-
dren.

IRMA S. RAKER. Sixth Judicial Circuit, 1982—.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, April 24, 1938. Attended
Midwood High School; Syracuse University, B.A.,
1959; Washington College of Law, American Universi-
ty, J.D., 1972. Attended Hague Academy of Interna-
tional Law, 1959. Admitted to the Maryland Bar, 1973.
Member, American, Maryland State, Montgomery
County, and District of Columbia Women's Bar Associ-
ations. National District Attorneys' Association. Recip-
ient, American Judicature Book Award for Torts, Crim-
inal Procedure; Lura E. Turiey Award from Washington
College of Law; Law Review, American University. As-
sistant state's attorney, Montgomery County, 1973-
1979. Adjunct professor, Washington College of Law.
Member, Montgomery County Advisory Commission
on Environmental Law, 1979; Montgomery County
Commission on Battered Spouses; Advisory Commis-
sion on Child Abuse and Neglect. Partner in law firm
of Sachs, Greenebaum, and Tayler. Publication: "The
Right of the Police to Break and Enter: No-Knock,"
American University Law Review (1970-1971). Judge,
District 6, District Court of Maryland, 1980-1982.
Married; 3 children.

GEORGE B. RASIN, JR. Second Judicial Circuit,
1960—; Chief Judge and Circuit Administrative Judge.
Bom in Kent County, May 28, 1917. Attended Kent
County public schools; Washington College, A.B., 1937;