By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 11, 2007; B05

Ernest A. Loveless Jr., 84, a longtime chief judge of Maryland's 7th Judicial Circuit who played a crucial role in improving the court's management as parts of rural Southern Maryland were transformed into a crowded Washington suburb, died Aug. 5 at Southern Maryland Hospital Center. He had emphysema and heart ailments.

Judge Loveless was a Prince George's County lawyer and state delegate when then-Gov. J. Millard Tawes (D) appointed him to the 7th Judicial Circuit in 1960. The circuit comprises Prince George's, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties.

Judge Loveless had been chief judge since 1976 and at his mandatory retirement in 1992 was the state's longest-serving tenured jurist. During his career, he was appointed administrative judge for Prince George's and the 7th Judicial Circuit.

Judge C. Philip Nichols Jr., his successor on the court, said Judge Loveless recognized the need for case management expertise as the court system became far busier in the 1970s.

To increase efficiency, Judge Loveless installed state-of-the-art computer systems and made other administrative changes to keep up with the community's needs. He also brought a resident psychologist on staff to handle family law matters, Nichols said.

Regarded as an authority on juvenile law, Judge Loveless was widely remembered for presiding over thousands of adoption cases. He adopted two children.

He also oversaw a case in which Kathy Kusner, a former Olympic equestrienne, sued to win a jockey's license in Maryland in 1968 and became the nation's first major-track female jockey.

Judge Loveless ordered the state's racing commission, which initially turned down Kusner because of her sex, to grant her the license.

Ernest Alvin Loveless Jr. was born in Washington and raised in Clinton, where he was a 1939 graduate of Surrattsville High School as well as class president and valedictorian.

He graduated in 1943 from the University of Maryland and served in the Navy during World War II.

He was a 1947 graduate of George Washington University Law School, where he also received a master's degree in law in 1948.

Judge Loveless spent the next 12 years in private practice in Clinton and Waldorf and, as a Democrat, was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1954 and 1958.

He resigned from the General Assembly after his judicial appointment and later won election to two 16-year terms on the bench.

Judge Loveless was a former chairman of the Maryland Judicial Conference and the Maryland Conference of Circuit Judges. He was the recipient of many state and county legal awards.

Judge Loveless was a charter member and former president of the Clinton Lions Club; a former commander of an American Legion post in Clinton; and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Among Judge Loveless's avocations was goose hunting on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Judge Loveless had polio as a child, and he developed post-polio syndrome in his 70s, eventually using a wheelchair. He lived in Clinton.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Margaret Bealle Loveless of Clinton; four children, Barbara Holtz of La Plata, Veronica "Roni" Brandt of Easton, Md., Michael Loveless of Hughesville and Patrick Loveless of Waldorf; nine grandchildren; and three great-granddaughters.
 

© 2007 The Washington Post Company