Judge Robert

Retired Maryland Judge Robert F. Sweeney, who oversaw the creation of the state's highly regarded District Court system to replace a corruption-riddled patchwork of local courts, died of leukemia yesterday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.Judge Sweeney, who was 72, was the first and only chief judge of the District Court system from its creation in 1971 until his mandatory retirement three years ago.A politically adept jurist who succeeded with a combination of charm and determination, he has been credited with leading the modernization of a court system that had been overseen by politically minded, and at times corrupt, judges, magistrates and justices of the peace.

Four judges and one lawyer have applied for the Court of Appeals seat that will become vacant July 6 when Chief Judge Robert M. Bell reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. The applicants for the judgeship on the state's highest court are Judges Stuart Ross Berger, Albert Joseph Matricciani Jr. and Shirley Marie Watts, all sitting on the Court of Special Appeals; Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge W. Michel Pierson; and Baltimore attorney Mary...

The state's chief judge is going into mandatory retirement today, but Gov. Parris N. Glendening said yesterday he needs more time to pick a successor.Glendening said Court of Appeals Judge John C. Eldridge has agreed to serve as the court's acting chief judge until the governor announces his choice to succeed Judge Robert C. Murphy.The governor told Eldridge he would need up to two more weeks to make what some of his advisers have called one of the most important appointments he will make, a Glendening spokesman said.

July 6, 1943 Robert Mack Bell born in Rocky Mount, N.C.; family moves to Baltimore about 11/2 years later. June 17, 1960 Bell and 11 students try to get seated at Hooper's Restaurant at Charles and Fayette streets in Baltimore. A hostess says the restaurant policy is not to "serve Negroes," and they sit down nonetheless, prompting a call to police that leads to their arrest and conviction for trespassing. Case becomes known as Bell v. Maryland because Bell's name came first alphabetically.

One appellate judge will be on all Maryland ballots, and two will be on some ballots in so-called retention -- "Yes" or "No" -- elections. Judge Robert F. Fischer of the Court of Special Appeals is running statewide. Judge Dale R. Cathell of the same court is running in the district composed of Eastern Shore counties. Chief Judge Robert C. Murphy of the Court of Appeals is running in Baltimore and Harford counties. All deserve "Yes" votes.

Even in a year when voters seemed inclined to "throw the bums out," all nine incumbent appellate court judges on the ballot yesterday were expected to win election to 10-year terms.With no major controversies surrounding the judicial races, five Court of Appeals judges and four Court of Special Appeals judges were expected to win their retention elections.The judges faced no challengers, and all were endorsed by the Maryland State Bar Association.Voters were asked whether the incumbents should be retained for 10-year terms.

Two ballot questions dealing with courts management will be before the voters Nov. 8. We urge voters to render a split-judgment.Question No. 2 alters the boundaries of the circuits for the Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals. A new circuit would be created for Montgomery County; Baltimore City would lose one of the two judges it provides to each of the two courts.Population change made this inevitable. There are now more people, lawyers and complex litigation in Montgomery and less in the city.

IN HIS LAST annual report to the General Assembly, Chief Judge Robert C. Murphy, who retires from the Maryland Court of Appeals next fall, told lawmakers that the state court system is so overloaded with litigation that its ability to remain a "viable institution of government" is at risk. Despite that assessment, DTC the chief judge did not ask for drastic changes. He didn't have to; a commission is now at work studying the state's judicial system and preparing recommendations for improving it.Maryland's 132 circuit judges and 98 district judges are coping with a rising number of cases.

ANNAPOLIS -- Heeding the pleas of judges who said they'd rather turn salary back to the state during the budget crisis than give up vacation days, the Maryland Court of Appeals voted last night to let the judges choose either option."

Michael Waring Lee, chief judge of Baltimore City Orphans' Court, died Sunday of complications after colon surgery at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Northwest Baltimore resident was 42.Judge Lee was a great-nephew of Everett J. Waring, who in 1885 became the first black admitted to the Maryland Bar.Judge Lee also made history -- as the first black to be appointed a chief judge of any court in Maryland. In 1983, he was 30 years old when Gov. Harry R. Hughes selected him to fill a vacancy on the three-member Orphans' Court.

Judge Robert E. Cadigan Sr., a retired Baltimore County Circuit judge who was a student of the Civil War, died Thursday of cancer at his home in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 75. "He was one of my very best friends," James T. Smith Jr., Baltimore County executive, said Monday. "He was an outstanding lawyer and loved being appointed to the bench. He considered it the pinnacle of his career, and he appreciated the opportunity. " Retired Baltimore County Circuit Judge J. Norris Byrnes was a longtime friend and shared chambers with Judge Cadigan for years.

The Maryland Court of Appeals has ordered a five-day unpaid suspension for a Charles County judge accused of letting the air out of car tire belonging to a woman who was a cleaning worker at the courthouse in La Plata. Two sheriff's deputies reported that they saw Circuit Judge Robert C. Nalley letting the air out of the right rear tire of a Toyota on Aug. 10, 2009. The judge explained that he was annoyed at the woman for having parked in a restricted area of the courthouse. Nalley was cited for tampering with a vehicle and pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge.

WASHINGTON -- Taking advantage of what he called a "historically slow news day," Chief Justice John G. Roberts will release a report today calling for a raise for federal judges. Roberts said in his second year-end report that the issue of lagging salaries "threatens to undermine" the court system. "This is usually the point at which many will put down the annual report and return to the Rose Bowl," he conceded, but he beseeched readers to "bear with me long enough to consider" some revealing comparisons.

Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan has been on the city Circuit Court bench since 1977; Judge Clifton J. Gordy since 1985. Both planned to retire within a year. But Kaplan, Baltimore's longest-serving and perhaps most prolific judge, disclosed yesterday that he will step down from the bench a few months early so that Gordy, his friend and colleague, can briefly serve as chief judge -- a ceremonial title given to the judge with the most seniority. "This is one of the most gracious things I've ever seen or heard of one colleague doing for another," Gordy said.

THERE WERE moments of humor and even what might pass for candor during some contentious exchanges. But, for the most part, the confirmation hearings of John G. Roberts Jr. to be chief justice of the United States have been carefully scripted, with few if any surprises. Given the stakes - the first hearing on a Supreme Court nominee in 11 years and the first for chief justice in 19 years - the posturing by some senators and the frequent evasiveness by Judge Roberts was predictable. But after a day of opening statements and two days of interrogation, the senators and the public had at least a picture of Judge Roberts - as he chose to present himself.

BOSTON - Didn't this all begin when we rediscovered that pillow talk in the White House doesn't always penetrate a president's ear? In the frenzied days after Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement announcement, first lady Laura Bush openly expressed her desire to see another woman on the highest bench. It was widely assumed that she was speaking for, or at least to, her husband. The media short list was quickly filled with skirts. Then along came John G. Roberts Jr. all dressed up in a suit and tie and carrying an inscrutable rM-isumM-i.

Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Clayton Greene Jr., appointed last week as the county's new administrative judge, keeps a plastic replica of a hand grenade on a corner of his desk with "Complaint Department" inscribed on its pedestal.A visitor might think the gift from a retired police officer is a not-too-subtle warning to combative lawyers, but it contrasts sharply with Greene's approachable, conciliatory style, according to those who know him."He's a real leader in a quiet, effective way. He doesn't coerce people, he just works really well with getting people to work with him," said Judge Joseph P. Manck, who served with Greene for six years as a District Court judge and now holds Greene's old job as administrative judge of Anne Arundel's District Court.

WASHINGTON - When Mike Luttig stood up as a groomsman in John Roberts' wedding nine years ago, more than a few people could have predicted that they would someday be sharing the spotlight again. They'd been young leaders in the Reagan and Bush administrations, and both had made deep impressions as being smart and well-disciplined. Each was the first in his family to become a lawyer, and both had clerked on the Supreme Court. On that July day in 1996, Luttig was on his way to becoming one of the nation's most prominent federal appeals court judges.