January 08, 1997
NEIL EDWARD AXEL'S appointment to Howard County's District Court remedies the immediate concern of making sure that an important level of the local judiciary will function at better than half-strength. Mr. Axel, a well-regarded Columbia solo practitioner, is expected to assume his seat within a month, becoming the third judge on a bench with four seats.
Before Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed the new judge last Friday, responsibility for all the county's low-level criminal cases, small civil matters and traffic cases fell to Judges James Vaughan and Louis Becker.
Fortunately, Mr. Glendening realized that the voluminous District Court caseload could have overwhelmed two judges and threatened to grind down what has been an efficient court system. He made a good choice in picking the highly qualified Mr. Axel, whose role as chairman of the Maryland Special Olympics illustrates his commitment to community service.
The governor's choice of Mr. Axel, however, raises concern from the frustrated African-American community, which rightly argues for diversity on Howard County's bench. Mr. Axel is white, and the county's bench has had no racial diversity. Glendening-appointee Donna Hill Staton, the county's first black judge, lost her bid to retain a seat on the Circuit Court bench after a nasty election last fall filled with racial, xenophobic and partisan overtones.
The final vacancy on the District Court was created when Judge Lenore R. Gelfman surrendered her seat on that tribunal after defeating Ms. Hill Staton in November. Perhaps some degree of consolation and healing would come to the African-American community -- as well as others who realize the value of diversity -- with the appointment of a minority to fill Judge Gelfman's vacancy.
For that reason, Mr. Glendening would be wise to appoint a highly qualified African-American to the remaining District Court vacancy in a county that is 12 percent black. Five black lawyers have applied, so the commission screening applicants should be able to send enough qualified African-American nominees to Annapolis for the governor to diversify the District Court bench. This may be the last chance this century for Howard to have a bench that approaches the diversity of its citizens.
