Katie O'Malley Makes a Case for Keeping Her Job
By John Wagner
Sunday, January 7, 2007; C12
Maryland's soon-to-be first lady, Catherine Curran O'Malley, is
sticking with her plan to stay on the bench once her husband is sworn
in as governor.
O'Malley, a district court judge in Baltimore, spoke publicly about her
intentions during the summer as her husband, Baltimore Mayor Martin
O'Malley (D), was campaigning to unseat Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).
But Katie O'Malley's desire to keep her job has been complicated by a
residency requirement and other family considerations regarding an
anticipated move to Annapolis. The O'Malleys have four children,
including two daughters in high school.
On Friday, a lawyer for the governor-elect wrote to Ben C. Clyburn, the
chief judge for the District Court of Maryland, citing case law that
suggests a temporary move to Annapolis would not preclude Katie
O'Malley from maintaining her "domicile" in Baltimore, provided she
intends to return there at the end of her husband's term.
"When this temporary position of Martin's is over, we both intend to
reside in Baltimore," Katie O'Malley said yesterday.
The O'Malley family plans to move into the 54-room governor's mansion,
known as Government House, sometime after Martin O'Malley's Jan. 17
swearing-in. But the timing remains unclear, aides said. The family has
yet to make a decision as to whether to sell their home in Baltimore.
Katie O'Malley's decision to stay on the bench is hardly without
precedent.
Marjorie Rendell, the wife of Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D),
sits on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Mary Pawlenty, the wife
of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), is a district judge in the state;
and Gary Sebelius, the husband of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D),
who refers to himself as the state's "first dude," is a federal
magistrate judge.
Anne Holton, first lady of Virginia, had been a judge but decided to
step down after her husband, Timothy M. Kaine (D), won the governorship.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company