BENSON EVERETT LEGG. Appointed Sept. 17,
1991. Sworn in Sept. 18, 1991, to replace Paul V.
Niemeyer, who was appointed to U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit, Aug. 7, 1990.

DEBORAH K. CHASANOW. Appointed Oct. 20.
1993. Sworn in Nov. 1, 1993, to replace Alexander
Harvey II, who elected to take senior status March 8,
1991.

PETER J. MESSITTE. Appointed Oct. 20, 1993.
Sworn in Nov. 15, 1993, to replace Joseph C. Howard,
who elected to take senior status Nov. 15, 1991,

UNITED STATES
BANKRUPTCY COURT

Paul Mannes, Chief Judge

Associate Judges: E. Stephen Derby; Duncan W.
Keir; James F. Schneider.

Frank L. Monge, Clerk

Garmatz Federal Courthouse, Room 919
101 West Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 962-2688

451 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, MD 20850 (301) 344-8047

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Dis-
trict of Maryland is part of the United States District
Court for the District of Maryland. With separate
clerks' offices and court dockets, the judges administer
debtors' estates and decide controversies between
debtors and creditors.
Although Congress enacted emergency bank-
ruptcy laws in 1800, 1841, and 1867, the National
Bankruptcy Act of 1898 was the first comprehensive
statute and governed bankruptcy cases for almost 80
years. Under the act, the U.S. District Court ap-
pointed "referees in bankruptcy" to handle these cases.
The federal Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 estab-
lished independent bankruptcy courts and judges, a
move declared unconstitutional in 1982 by the U.S.
Supreme Court. The Bankruptcy Amendments and
Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-353) reme-
died the jurisdictional problems of the 1978 act by
designating bankruptcy courts as units of the federal
district courts.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
appoints the bankruptcy judges to fourteen year
terms. The bankruptcy judges appoint the bankruptcy
clerk.

No appointment yet made to replace Norman P. Ramsey,
who elected to take senior status Nov. 1, 1991, retired
Sept. 30, 1992, and died June 15, 1993.

No appointment yet made to replace John Raymond
Hargrove, Sr., who elected to take senior status Feb. 21,
1994.

UNITED STATES
MAGISTRATE JUDGES

Clarence E. Goetz, Chief Magistrate Judge

Associate Magistrate Judges: Catherine C. Blake;
James E. Kenkel; Daniel E. Klein, Jr.; Paul M.
Rosenberg; one vacancy.

Part-time Associate Magistrate Judges: Donald E.
Beachley; Victor H. Laws; James J. Lombardi.

Garmatz Federal Courthouse
101 West Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 962-4560

400 Presidential Building
6565 Bellcrest Road
Hyattsville, MD 20782 (301) 436-8175

United States Magistrate Judges for the District
of Maryland may conduct initial proceedings in
criminal cases, that is, issue search warrants, arrest
warrants, and summonses; review bail; and set in-
itial appearances. Upon written consent of the de-
fendant, they may try and dispose of federal
criminal misdemeanor cases, with or without a jury.
With consent of the litigants, they also may try any
civil case pending in their U.S. District Court. The
U.S. Magistrate Judges oversee pretrial matters and
procedures such as motions, pretrial conferences,
prisoner cases, Social Security cases, and evidentiary
hearings.
U.S. Magistrate Judges trace their origins to
the federal Judiciary Act of 1789 which author-
ized magistrates to set bail in federal criminal
cases. In 1812, federal circuit courts were
authorized to appoint such persons to take affi-
davits, set bail, and receive fees for those services.
As their duties expanded, these court officials
became known as commissioners by 1817. Com-
missioners could try petty offenses committed in
certain national parks in 1894, and, in 1896, a
system of U.S. Commissioners was formally es-
tablished. Appointed to four-year terms by the