"Woman Named to Md.'s High Court." The Washington Post, 28 November 1993.

Woman Named to Md.'s High Court; Montgomery Judge to Be Second Female Ever to Serve on Panel; [FINAL Edition]
Graciela Sevilla. The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). Washington, D.C.: Nov 28, 1993. pg. B.05

Gov. William Donald Schaefer yesterday announced his appointment of Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Irma S. Raker to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest tribunal.

When she takes office Jan. 1, Raker, 55, will be the only woman on the court. She will replace retiring Judge John F. McAuliffe.

Raker is the second woman ever named to the court. Rita C. Davidson was appointed in 1979, and since her death in 1984, the court has been all-male.

"I look forward to bringing my experiences to the issues that the Court of Appeals will address, and I look forward to contributing to the decisions," Raker said yesterday. "I think it's a great honor and an opportunity to serve the state of Maryland."

Raker was praised by Albert D. Brault, chairman of the commission that recommended her and two other finalists to the governor.

"Her extensive legal experience and her clear brilliance in dealing with the law, together with a calm and deliberative judicial demeanor, have made her an outstanding judge in the trial court and will serve her well in the Court of Appeals," he said.

The high court has seven judges, one from each of five appellate judicial circuits and two from the Baltimore appellate circuit.

Raker will represent the third appellate circuit, which includes Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties.

A trial court judge since 1982, Raker is also a former prosecutor. Earlier this year, she presided over the highly publicized murder trial of Hadden I. Clark, a homeless man convicted of killing 23- year-old Laura Houghteling and burying her body near her Bethesda home.

Raker sentenced Clark to the maximum 30 years in prison for second- degree murder and told him, "It is the hope of this court that you serve every day of the 30 years."

Raker's appointment runs until 1996, when she will have to seek voter approval to keep her job. If she runs and wins a merit retention election, she would be eligible to remain on the bench until she reaches 70 years old, Maryland's mandatory retirement age for appellate judges.

Raker joined the Montgomery County state's attorney's office as an assistant prosecutor in 1973. In 1980, she became a district judge and two years later moved up to the circuit court bench.