Judgeship

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday the appointment of former Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr., who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2010, to a District Court judgeship in Queen Anne's County. Kratovil, a Democrat, served a single term in Congress after scratching out a narrow victory over then-state Sen. Andrew P. Harris in 2008. Kratovil, 43, whose voting record in Congress was well to the right of the typical Democrat, was nevertheless defeated by Harris in a 2010 rematch as the district swung back to its Republican leanings.

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...

A commission is expected to decide Thursday which of the 16 lawyers seeking an Anne Arundel County judgeship should be considered by the governor for appointment to the job. The panel plans an interview marathon that day, questioning all of the applicants and completing reviews of recommendations and views of lawyer organizations, said Thomas J. Fleckenstein, chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the county. The list the commission will issue is critical, because Gov. Martin O'Malley must select someone from the list, which will include at least three names.

Longtime U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm was promoted to a U.S. District Court judgeship in Maryland by a nearly unanimous confirmation vote in the Senate on Monday despite a backlog of nominations that has left dozens of vacancies on the federal bench. Grimm, a Towson resident who has served as a magistrate judge for the District of Maryland since 1997, fills the opening left by Judge Benson E. Legg, who assumed senior status this year. Grimm's nomination by President Barack Obama in February was uncontroversial — members of both parties supported him — but the gridlocked Senate has been slow to confirm judges.

The names of three assistant state's attorneys for Harford County are among four lawyers and a district court judge who have been recommended to Gov. Martin O'Malley for appointment to the vacancy on the Harford County Circuit. But the county's chief prosecutor, Joseph Cassilly, who also applied for the judgeship, did not make the final cut when the Judicial Nominating Commission for District 4-Harford County sent its five nominees to O'Malley Thursday. There are five circuit court judgeships in Harford County.

Six lawyers, two of them career criminal prosecutors and one a former judge who lost a previous election, will be considered to replace a judge who retired last summer from the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court bench. Sixteen people applied, and the Judicial Nominating Commission for the county winnowed the applicants down last week. Gov. Martin O'Malley must appoint someone from the panel's list, though he can also reopen the process to generate a new list. Whoever is appointed will have a short time on the job before needing to win election next year to keep it, provided the appointment is made before the filing deadline in July for November's election.

"Poor John Arnick. He's resigned his seat in the House of Delegates. He's given up his law practice. He's been one of us for all these years. How can we not confirm him for a judgeship?"To hear legislators deal with this misguided nomination, you'd think that what is, in effect, a lifetime seat on the District Court was any well-connected, veteran legislator's right.Never mind the fact that many people who have observed Mr. Arnick at work seriously doubt that he has the temperament necessary to do the job. And never mind the disturbing fact that more witnesses are coming forward with stories of verbal abuse and harassment of women.

Two prosecutors from the state's attorney's office and two attorneys with private practices in Bel Air have been recommended to the governor for a Harford County Circuit Court judgeship.The recommendations were made by the Harford Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission, which interviewed 23 applicants last week for the new fifth Circuit Court judgeship.The nominees sent to Gov. Parris N. Glendening are:* Diana Andrea Brooks, an assistant state's attorney from Thomas Run, north of Churchville.

Eight people have applied for a new Howard County District Court judgeship.An appointment will give the county five judges to handle a caseload that has skyrocketed in the past few years.Six of the eight applicants applied for the position yesterday, the deadline set by a 17-member judicial nominating commission, which will submit four to seven names to the governor for appointment. The names of the applicants will be released today.Some black leaders say there needs to be another minority on the local judiciary.

A Howard County councilman and two black groups want Gov. Parris N. Glendening to reject a list of candidates for a Circuit Court judgeship, saying the six white finalists don't reflect the county's racial diversity.Councilman C. Vernon Gray, along with the African American Coalition and the county chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said at least one of three black attorneys who applied for the new judgeship should have been among the finalists.Governor Glendening's spokeswoman, Dianna Rosborough, said Friday that the governor hasn't decided whether he will pick the county's new judge from the list of finalists or start the selection process over again.

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday the appointment of former Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr., who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2010, to a District Court judgeship in Queen Anne's County. Kratovil, a Democrat, served a single term in Congress after scratching out a narrow victory over then-state Sen. Andrew P. Harris in 2008. Kratovil, 43, whose voting record in Congress was well to the right of the typical Democrat, was nevertheless defeated by Harris in a 2010 rematch as the district swung back to its Republican leanings.

The names of three assistant state's attorneys for Harford County are among four lawyers and a district court judge who have been recommended to Gov. Martin O'Malley for appointment to the vacancy on the Harford County Circuit. But the county's chief prosecutor, Joseph Cassilly, who also applied for the judgeship, did not make the final cut when the Judicial Nominating Commission for District 4-Harford County sent its five nominees to O'Malley Thursday. There are five circuit court judgeships in Harford County.

Republican challenger Alison L. Asti captured a seat on the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court last week, booting out one of two recent gubernatorial appointees. Asti will take the place of Ronald H. Jarashow. She joins Democrat Laura S. Kiessling, who ran as a team with Jarashow, in winning a 15-year term as a judge. "My message was about the importance of an independent judiciary," Asti said. She said she tried to keep her message positive and focused on presenting herself to voters.

Ellen Lipton Hollander, a veteran Maryland state court judge, and James K. Bredar, a federal magistrate judge, have been nominated by President Barack Obama for U.S. District Court judgeships, the White House announced Wednesday. Hollander, 60, has been a member of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals since 1994. Before that, she served five years as a Baltimore Circuit Court judge. She would fill the seat that opened up last year when U.S. Judge Andre Davis, a Democratic nominee, moved to the federal appeals court.

A key Senate panel voted Monday evening to approve the appointment of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's son as an Anne Arundel County District Court judge, a nomination that was first put forward two years ago and prompted three members of the county's judicial nominating commission to resign in protest. The panel's decision means a vote on Thomas V. Miller III's nomination to the bench likely will go to the Senate floor this week. Miller, who was nominated by Gov. Martin O'Malley, said he did not rely on his father's influence.

Six lawyers, two of them career criminal prosecutors and one a former judge who lost a previous election, will be considered to replace a judge who retired last summer from the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court bench. Sixteen people applied, and the Judicial Nominating Commission for the county winnowed the applicants down last week. Gov. Martin O'Malley must appoint someone from the panel's list, though he can also reopen the process to generate a new list. Whoever is appointed will have a short time on the job before needing to win election next year to keep it, provided the appointment is made before the filing deadline in July for November's election.

WHAT'S the best way to gain a top state judgeship in Maryland? Become a fervent booster of Gov. Parris N. Glendening. That's what happened when the governor anointed his hand-picked chairman of the state Democratic Party, Peter Krauser, as the newest member of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. It's an unprecedented move in this state -- the head of a state political party being given a choice judgeship as a "thank you." So much for the notion that the judiciary is insulated from partisanship.