THE DISTRICT COURT in Howard County got one of two things it needed from the governor with the recent appointment of Columbia attorney Neil E. Axel to a judgeship.
Mr. Axel should provide the immediate help the bench needs to restore efficiency that the lower-level court is beginning to lose. Now, Gov. Parris N. Glendening must address the other need: an African-American judge.
One look at District Judge James Vaughan on the bench last Tuesday showed why it was critical for the governor to fill one of two vacancies fast.
Judge Vaughan was the only arbiter in the courthouse that day. His only colleague at the moment, Judge Louis Becker, was on vacation. That and the vacancies stuck him with twice the normal caseload. As a result, traffic violators, criminal defendants, victims, witnesses, police officers, lawyers and the prosecutor spent hours waiting for justice. A few cases were postponed.
The frazzled judge bounced between two courtrooms. Courtroom No. 2 had minor criminal cases -- soliciting for prostitution, assault, domestic abuse. Courtroom No. 3 was traffic court, where offenders struggled to find unique explanations.
Traffic court was standing room only. The litany of cases was spiced only by a young woman who explained that she was speeding home excitedly from the doctor's office to tell her husband she was pregnant; the judge reduced her penalty, opining that something "neat" pushed her accelerator foot to the floor.
After disposes of his traffic cases, Judge Vaughan bounced back to Courtroom No. 2 to preside over plea bargains, postponements, a request for a jury trial and a brief battery trial involving a man and his estranged wife.
If District Court judges have it made, as some lawyers joke privately, Judge Vaughan probably didn't think so Tuesday.
The job of a district judge indeed lacks the complexity of some Circuit Court cases. Most parties appear without lawyers, and decisions rarely require Solomonic interpretation of arcane statutes or case law.
But District Court is an assembly line where judgments must be quick and sure. This can be stressful for a judge carrying two caseloads and frustrating for those waiting for judgment. The appointment of Mr. Axel to the vacancy created by Judge R. Russell Sadler's retirement should prevent a repeat of such a scenario.
Now the governor must address the other need in a county that is 12 percent black.
The African American Coalition of Howard County reacted to Mr. Axel's appointment with the concern of a basketball fan watching a player miss the first of two foul shots in a close game. But despite his real and perceived flaws, the governor has demonstrated his commitment to diversity.
There is every reason to be certain he will sink the second shot.
Onus on commission
I only hope the county's Judicial Nominating Commission will do a better job of diversifying its list of candidates than it did last time when it sent the governor seven names, but only one African-American nominee.
The only African-American considered for the post last time, assistant attorney general Pamila J. Brown, 42, earned high marks after being screened by the commission last fall. Although the governor did not select her, she remains a candidate for the remaining vacancy, and four other African-American lawyers have applied for that post.
The four new applicants are:
Cornelia Bright-Gordon, 41, an administrative law judge with the state office of administrative hearings.
Lonnie R. Robbins, 46, a senior assistant county solicitor who advises the county's ethics commission and office of purchasing and is co-counsel for the Board of Appeals and County Council.
Walter F. Closson, 52, an assistant state's attorney in the county for eight years who has served as a District Court commissioner. He also applied for the post filled by Mr. Axel.
Alice Gail Clark, 56, an assistant public defender in the county for five years who applied for the post filled by Mr. Axel.
In addition, 10 white lawyers are vying for the vacancy created by Judge Lenore R. Gelfman's recent election to Circuit Court.
They are James Francis Brewer, Sue-Ellen Hantman, Michael J. Jack, Mary Catherine O'Donnell, Robert N. Stokes Jr., Dario Joseph Broccolino, Carol A. Hanson, Bernard A. Raum, Constantine James Sfekas and Michael Allen Weal.
Is it unfair to tell white candidates they should not be considered? In a truly color-blind society, absolutely.
Howard's judiciary, however, is tainted by more than a century of color-consciousness that has denied African-Americans an opportunity to serve as judges. Judge Gelfman's defeat last fall of former Circuit Judge Donna Hill Staton, the county's first and only black judge, is only the most recent and clear example of race playing a role to deny opportunity.
If we are ever to become a colorblind society, we first must open our eyes to the wrongs our past has wrought.
Norris West is The Sun's editorial writer in Howard County.
Pub Date: 1/12/97
