Judgeship

Catherine Curran O'Malley, the wife of recently elected Mayor Martin O'Malley, is renewing her goal of becoming a District Court judge.O'Malley, 37, an assistant state's attorney in Baltimore County, is among 14 candidates seeking the District Court bench vacated by Audrey J. Carrion, who was appointed to Baltimore City Circuit Court. This is O'Malley's second bid for the post during the past 18 months."I like the District Court," O'Malley said. "You're dealing with people every day. You have a lot of interesting cases.

Governor names Baker to Cecil County district judgeshipGov. Parris N. Glendening appointed Stephen James Baker, 42, an Elkton lawyer and son of state Sen. Walter M. Baker, to a judgeship on the Cecil County District Court yesterday.The appointment followed an unusual piece of Annapolis drama last week when Baker, a Democrat, abstained from voting on legislation that would help the state collect billions of dollars from the tobacco industry.He did so after rumors surfaced that he had agreed to back the legislation in exchange for a commitment by Glendening to appoint his son and his law partner in Elkton to judgeships.

BLAME IT on El Nino. What else could explain the downpour of ethics controversies drenching members of the 1998 Maryland General Assembly?Two senior leaders have resigned or been expelled; the House speaker's role in a land-swap deal is under scrutiny; two more city legislators face questions about pushing state aid for an office building being developed by a political power broker.No wonder the mood is so foul.In recent weeks, delegates have bemoaned the fate of Gerald J. Curran: "Poor Gerry," they keep saying.

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.

Legislation that would help the state collect billions of dollars from the tobacco industry cleared its first hurdle in a Senate committee yesterday, but only after two members of the panel declined to vote amid concerns about conflicts of interest.On a vote of 6-3, with two abstentions, the Judicial Proceedings Committee approved a measure designed to undo an adverse ruling last year by the judge in the state's lawsuit seeking $13 billion in damages from cigarette manufacturers."This bill is the right thing to do for us to have the ability to hold the tobacco manufacturers accountable for the deceit they've practiced for the last 40 years," said state Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., the bill's chief proponent.

Now that the general election is over, the unanswered question around the water coolers in Baltimore City Hall is this: When will Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke leave for a top post in the Clinton Administration?Never mind that Schmoke says flat-out he is not going anywhere. The political rumor mill is in high gear, churning out a variety of potential appointments: housing secretary, education secretary and a federal judgeship, just to name a few.That, in turn, has sparked more rumors about City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III, who is next in line to be mayor.

Qualifications, money and diversity: More on the judges' 0) raceAt last count, we have had several judges allow the murder and manslaughter of two women to receive minimum sentences (a chloroform death in Howard County and a domestic infidelity murder in the city) and one judge has been brought upon charges that include the services of a prostitute while in his chambers. These judges have been approved by their legal and local community as "experienced and qualified."Are the critics of Judges Donna Hill Staton and Diane Leasure willing to admit that being qualified and experienced does not guarantee that wisdom and integrity -- those skills necessary for judgeship -- will be employed?

The eight people -- a mix of men, women, whites and blacks -- who have applied for a Howard Circuit Court judgeship may increase the chance that the seat will be filled with someone who fits the governor's call for diversity.The list, released yesterday, includes two white men, three white women, two black women and one black man. A previous list for another judgeship includes four men and two women, all white.The Circuit Court now has three white judges, with a fourth position vacant since the retirement of a white judge in May. Yesterday's list is only for that position but the six candidates on the earlier list will be considered for both judgeships.

Twenty-eight names appear on the list of candidates to fill a vacant judgeship in the District Court for Harford County, including two of four candidates still in the running for a Harford County Circuit Court judgeship.The position became vacant when Judge John S. Landbeck Jr. decided not to seek another 10-year term in February amid allegations that he had made inappropriate remarks or gave unwelcome attention to several women in the courthouse.Candidates to succeed Judge Landbeck include Diana A. Brooks of Thomas Run, north of Churchville, and Jay Elliot Robinson of Forest Hill.

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.

With one judge retiring soon and a 12th judgeship to be added in the coming year, Gov. Martin O'Malley will appoint two judges to the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court bench, and already the prospect is looming of appointees facing challengers on the ballot. Fresh in lawyers' and politicians' minds is the election of 2004, in which two Republican lawyers mounted successful campaigns that ousted two judges appointed by Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening. It was the first time in a quarter-century that a sitting judge lost an election in the county.

Being the son of state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller might land you a judgeship. Then again, it might not. Gov. Martin O'Malley's recent request to expand the pool of nominees for an Anne Arundel District Court judgeship for which Mr. Miller's son was an applicant opened the process to charges of political favoritism. That's an inauspicious way to fill a judicial vacancy, even a seat on Maryland's entry-level court. Thomas V. Miller III, a lawyer and member of the state Parole Commission for 12 years, wasn't included in the initial list of five nominees recommended by the county judicial nominating commission to fill three vacancies.

For the first time in recent memory, a lawyer has submitted a petition to the state Board of Elections to run as an independent for a Circuit Court judgeship. In filing yesterday, Stuart Robinson of Harford County sidestepped the September primary election and will face an opponent in the November general election. Robinson, 53, of Havre de Grace said state officials have 20 days to certify the 1,776 signatures he gathered on the petition he filed in Annapolis. He needed 1,216 signatures to get onto the ballot, Robinson said.

Pamila J. Brown, an assistant attorney general with a long history of Community involvement, was appointed yesterday to the Howard County District Court bench Brown, one on a diverse list of five finalists for the job whose names were forwarded to Gov. Parris N. Glendening in January, will fill the vacancy created by District Court Chief Judge James N. Vaughan's promotion in September. "I'm so honored and so humbled to receive the appointment," a clearly overwhelmed Brown said yesterday, a few hours after receiving word and after fielding kudos all afternoon.

Pamila J. Brown, an assistant attorney general with a long history of community involvement, was appointed yesterday to the Howard County District Court bench. Brown, one on a diverse list of five finalists for the job whose names were forwarded to Gov. Parris N. Glendening in January, will fill the vacancy created by District Court Chief Judge James N. Vaughan's promotion in September. "I'm so honored and so humbled to receive the appointment," a clearly overwhelmed Brown said yesterday, a few hours after receiving word and after fielding kudos all afternoon.

Twenty-three lawyers, including three county prosecutors, an administrative law judge and a master who handles child support cases, are vying for the single Howard County District Court vacancy created by Judge James N. Vaughan's promotion to chief judge of Maryland's District Court system. The long list of applicants, released late yesterday afternoon, was not unexpected: The county has not had a judicial vacancy since 1998, when C. James Sfekas was named to fill the newly created fifth seat on the Howard County District Court bench and none of the five Circuit Court judgeships have opened since the hotly contested 1996 election.

VIRGINIA'S TWO Republican senators are showing President Bush how to put his words of compassion and reconciliation into action. John Warner and George Allen are urging Mr. Bush to support a black Democratic appointee for a permanent judgeship on the federal appellate court that oversees Maryland and four other states. That's a pretty significant about-face in a party that has opposed all previous black appointees to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Bush would be smart to follow the senators' lead.

Catherine Curran O'Malley, the wife of Baltimore's mayor and daughter of the state attorney general, was one of eight people recommended to Gov. Parris N. Glendening yesterday for appointment to a judgeship in the city's District Court. O'Malley was tapped by the city's Judicial Nominating Commission, made up of seven lawyers and six lay people, after the commission met Tuesday. Her name, along with seven others, was presented to Glendening yesterday for him to make a selection to fill the $101,800-a-year post.

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.

Catherine Curran O'Malley, the wife of recently elected Mayor Martin O'Malley, is renewing her goal of becoming a District Court judge.O'Malley, 37, an assistant state's attorney in Baltimore County, is among 14 candidates seeking the District Court bench vacated by Audrey J. Carrion, who was appointed to Baltimore City Circuit Court. This is O'Malley's second bid for the post during the past 18 months."I like the District Court," O'Malley said. "You're dealing with people every day. You have a lot of interesting cases.