Michele D. Hotten
MSA SC 3520-12366
Extended Biography:
Michele Denise Hotten knew she wanted to be a lawyer early on in life, and after much hard work, not only has she achieved her goal of practicing law, but she has also become the first African American woman to sit on the Prince George's County Circuit Court.
Hotten was born on April 20, 1954, and grew up in Northeast Washington, DC. It was there in her family's apartment that she first set her sights on practicing law. It was not a real-life role model but TV's Perry Mason who sparked the 9-year-old Hotten's dream. But she did receive real-life encouragement and support from both her mother and an uncle who helped instill in her the values of hard work and perseverance. These values would help Hotten break through the prejudice of others who told her that the law "was not a suitable goal for an African American."1
Hotten grew up in a single-parent home, never knowing her father who left when she was young. Her mother worked various clerical jobs, sometimes two or three at a time, trying to provide for Michele and her younger sister. Hotten acknowleged the burden her mother faced, noting, "[s]he wasn't around that much at times, but the aura of her presence was there." Hotten benefited from the guidance of her uncle, Oscar J. Lane, a teacher in the D.C. school system. Lane had once hoped to become a lawyer, but World War II interrupted his studies. According to Hotten, her uncle drilled into her the motto -- "I can, I must, I will" -- and never let her give up. "He would never let me say I can't," she said. "He was always doing things to help people. He taught me that was our responsibility as human beings."2
Education was another responsibility, as well as an opportunity. "There was no question that you excelled academically. There was no excuse for not doing so. From the start, not going to college was out of the question," Hotten said. During her early years, she attended public school in the District, and after sixth grade, she enrolled at Immaculate Conception Academy. As a teenager, Hotten followed her uncle's example of helping people, spending summers as a camp counselor for the D.C. Department of Recreation.3
After graduating from high school, Hotten went on to study at the University of South Florida's New College. Even at the university Hotten encountered racial bias. She recounts how she intended to major in English until discovering that the reading lists did not include any African American authors. "I asked the head of the English Department about it, and I was told that it was not a significant omission," she recalled. "That was a rude awakening. I was very angry." She added, "I was raised by a family that taught me to be proud of my heritage." In the end, Hotten majored in political science, writing her thesis on W.E.B. DuBois.4
As a black woman, Hotten has had to deal with people continually underestimating her, but she continues to prove people wrong, hoping to educate them in the process. She earned her law degree from Howard University in 1979 and in 1985 was hired as Assistant State's Attorney for Prince George's County. She moved on to private practice, working as an Associate with Farrington, Smallwood, Wells, & Wyrough from 1989 to 1992, and then as a sole practitioner specializing in litigation. During this period Hotten split her time between her practice and several part-time positions, serving as Prince George's County Deputy People's Zoning Counsel, Hearing Examiner for the Board of Education, Special Counsel to the Human Relations Commission, Circuit Court Examiner, and pre-law advisor at the University of Maryland.5
Hotten has been active in a number of professional organizations, including the Character Committee of Court of Appeals for 7th Judicial Circuit, the Inquiry Committee for the Attorney Grievance Commission, the Council on Jury Use and Management, and the Juvenile Law Committee and the Judicial Ethics Subcommittee of the Maryland Judicial Conference. Additionally, she is a member and has served as officers of the National, District of Columbia, Maryland State, and Prince George's County, J. Franklyn Bourne, and Women's Bar Associations.
Despite her self-acknowledged weakness -- working too hard and not taking time to relax -- Hotten seems to thrive on activity. Her good friend and chairman of the Prince George's board of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Elizabeth Hewlett said about Hotten, "She is very dedicated, and she pursues everything with vigor. Nobody takes more notes than Michele. She has a notebook for everything." Hotten's dedication and thoroughness paid off with her 1994 appointment to the District Court for Prince George's County. After only a year and a half, Hotten was elevated to the Circuit Court, becoming the first African American woman to hold this position in Prince George's County. Circuit Court Judge William B. Missouri called Hotten's appointment "a tremendous landmark." Hotten claimed she was both humbled and delighted to be chosen as the first African American Circuit Court judge in the county. She remarked that her appointment, "shows that we've made some progress," but added, "[w]e still have a long way to go."6
In her time on the bench, Judge Hotten has been part of efforts to reform the court system to make it more user-friendly. She served as chairman of the jury pool and summoning process panel, a subcommittee of a larger 32-member committee established to prepare recommendations to ease the burden of jury duty in Maryland. "The overall goal is to raise public consciousness about jury service and to expand the list of prospective jurors," Hotten said of the committee’s recommendations. "We are looking to streamline the [jury selection] process and make it more user-friendly to prospective jurors.” Some of the suggestions include providing day care for jurors with small children, improving jury compensation, and allowing jury members to discuss evidence during the case instead of only after its completion.7
As Circuit Court judge in the year 2000, Hotten experienced an unusual occurrence -- a convicted defendant asked for a supposedly harsher sentence. Judge Hotten denied Michael L. West's request to receive the death penalty instead of his assigned term of two life sentences plus 110 years in prison. West had been convicted by a jury of first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense, kidnapping, carjacking, robbery and other charges in the August 1997 rape of a Howard University graduate. In denying West’s request, Judge Hotten explained that under state law she had no power to order or authorize the lethal injection.8
At age 48, Hotten has not only fulfilled her dream of practicing law, but she has also solidified a place in history as the first African American woman to sit on the Circuit Court bench in Prince George’s County. The little girl who used to watch and admire Perry Mason has grown up to become a role model for others, particularly young African American girls, who can look to Hotten's career and clearly see what hard work and perseverance can accomplish.
In 2010, Judge Hotten was appointed to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals by Governor Martin O'Malley. She is the first African American woman to serve on any Maryland appellate court. Judge Hotten became a member of the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest appellate court, in December 2015.
Notes:
1. "Case Closed: Judge Sticks To Her Plan," The Washington Post, 7 December, 1995.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.; Prince George's County Judicial Branch, on-line, (http://www.co.pg.md.us/Judicial/judges/hotten_michele.html)
6. "Case Closed: Judge Sticks To Her Plan," The Washington Post, 7 December, 1995.
Biography written by Jennifer Copeland, 2002 summer intern, Maryland State Archives; updated August 2010.
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