Angela Eaves
MSA SC 3520-13120

Extended biography:

Angela Michelle Eaves was born on April 22, 1959, in Canal Zone, Panama.  As the daughter of a noncommissioned Army officer, she had the opportunity to live in many places throughout her childhood, including Germany, California, New York, New Jersey, and Texas.¹  In 1977 she graduated from Copperas High School, located in Copperas Cove, Texas.²  Her education continued at the University of Texas, from which she received a bachelor's degree in 1981.  In 1986, she earned master's degree in public affairs and a J.D. from the same institution.³

After being admitted to the Texas bar in 1987, Angela Michelle Eaves worked for two years as an assistant city attorney for Dallas, Texas.  In 1989, Eaves moved to Harford County and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1990.  Her first professional position in Maryland was as a lawyer for the Legal Aid Bureau in Harford County.  There she strove to uphold the ideals of the mission of that institution, "to provide quality legal services to the State's poor through a mix of services, and to bring about the changes poor people want in the systems which affect them."⁴ From 1993 until 2000, Eaves was an assistant attorney general for Harford County.  In this role she worked to defend correctional officers and state officials in civil suits and took on child-support appeal cases for the Department of Human Resources.  From 1995 to 1996, Ms. Eaves was on the Harford County Charter Review Commission and served as a member of the Human Relations Commission until 1997.  Devoted to her work and dedicated to helping the less fortunate, Eaves was awarded the Office of Attorney General's Pro Bono Award in 1996.

Eaves was involved in several child-support appeal cases that helped establish important precedents.  One such case was 340 Md. 480 Natasha Wills v. Randy W. Jones (1995).⁵  This case dealt with whether an incarcerated parent should be required to pay child support during the time of his/her imprisonment.  The question of whether imprisonment because of voluntary criminal act constituted 'voluntary impoverishment' was also answered in this case.  The Court of Appeals concluded that imprisonment did not result in 'voluntary impoverishment' and that an incarcerated person was still obligated to pay child support.  Eaves, assistant attorney general at the time, pointed out that this decision "prevents incarcerated parents from asking courts to outright terminate their support obligations.  Our main argument has always been that no court can relieve a parent of the obligation to pay.  Even if it is reduced to zero, the obligation is still there."⁶ This precedent was later used in the 1998 opinion in Gary H. Sowers v. Donna M. Reed (119 Md. App. 600),⁷ another case upon which Ms. Eaves was counsel.

Eaves was also involved in several other controversial cases.  While still with the Legal Aid Bureau, she worked on many child custody cases.  One case that caught the attention of the press in 1992 involved a five-year-old girl's mother, represented by Eaves, and the child's father, a convicted sex abuser.  The mother in this case had gone into hiding with the little girl in an effort to protect the child from the father. The father had been convicted in 1987 of sexually abusing his eleven-year-old stepdaughter.  He was currently on probation for this conviction though he had been deemed rehabilitated.  Eaves argued it would be detrimental to the child to give custody to the father given their lack in previous relationship.  The judge awarded the father custody, finding that the mother had a "serious psychiatric problem."  Kentucky attorney general Chris Gorman commented that the case provided "unmistakable proof of the need to make the system more accountable to the needs of these young victims."⁸

On March 27, 2000, Eaves was appointed associate judge on the District Court of Maryland, District 9, Harford County.  She replaced Judge Emory A. Plitt, Jr., who had been elevated to the Harford County Circuit Court.  This appointment made her the first African American and only the second woman appointed to the bench in Harford County.⁹  Her appointment marked a move towards diversifying the bench in a county wherein minorities constitute fifteen percent of the 214,000 residents.¹⁰  The Harford County Attorney's Legal Newsletter lauded her achievement, stating that, "we are happy to have her back in Bel Air, and we welcome the addition of a dose of Texas practicality to the already fine district court bench."¹¹  Dorsey Berndt, chief attorney for the Northeast Office of the Legal Aid Bureau, which represents clients in Harford and Cecil counties, said of Eaves, "I think she'll listen to people, and I'm excited about her taking the bench."¹²

Listening to people is exactly what Eaves has done during her term on the Harford County District Court.  She keeps her ear to the pavement and her presence in the community.  In addition to her involvement in local, state, and national bar associations and the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys,¹³ Judge Eaves is a board member of Home Partnership, Inc., a not-for-profit agency dedicated to helping Harford County residents achieve home ownership.¹⁴

Her status as the first African American judge on the Harford County District Court places her in the position of authority when issues of race arise.  This is a position she holds highly.  At an AMSAA Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Prayer Breakfast at which she was the guest speaker, Angela M. Eaves said,, "I promise I will do my part as a Harford County judge to ensure justice is color blind.  Please do your part to make his dream our reality."¹⁵

As keynote speaker at the 2000 Harford Equity Leadership Program, she offered a similar challenge to a group of 175 students and their faculty, stating:

I think we are more like a salad bowl where the lettuce, the carrots, the cucumbers, the croutons, the tomatoes and all the ingredients work together –retaining their individual character –but joining to create a great salad.  Each of you must confront stereotypes, reject stereotypical comments, and challenge others who may not even know what they have said encourages those stereotypes.¹⁶

Notes

1.  "Woman to join District Court:  Lawyer with history of public service to become Harford judge," The Baltimore Sun, 27 March 2000.

2.  Cooperas Cove Independent School District. (http://www.ccisd.com)

3.  Maryland Manual on-line (http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/32dc/html/msa13120.html)

4.  History of the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland. (http://www.mdlab.org/history1.html)

5.  Natasha Wills v. Randy W. Jones, 340 Md. 480, 1995.

6.  Brennan, Catherine, “High Court Rules Prisoners Can Seek Child Support Cut,” The Daily Record, 16 November 1995.
7.  Gary H. Sowers v. Donna M. Reid. 119 Md. App. 600, 1998.

8.  Bowers, Carol L, "Father awarded daughter, 5, despite history of sex abuse," The Baltimore Sun, 22 May 1992, 7E.

9.  Women's Caucus of Maryland, "Women of Distinction." (http://www.academy.umd.edu/wc/womenofdistinction.htm)

10. Woman to join District Court," The Baltimore Sun, 27 March 2000.

11.  Ibid.

12.  Ibid.

13.  “Congratulations to Newest Harford County Judge,”Legal Views 1 (April 2000).

14.  Home Partnership, Inc. (http://www.homepartnershipinc.org/about.html)

15.  AMSAA Mosaic, January 2001. (http://www.amsaa.army.mil/eeo/Mosaic/mosaic_Jan2001.html#Block2)

16.  Harford Schools Newsletter, November 2000. (http://www.co.ha.md.us/harford_schools/Newsletter/11-00/npage13.pdf)

Biography written by 2001 Summer Intern Joanna Berger, Maryland State Archives.

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