Judgeship

MAYBE WE OUGHT to start calling him Landslide George. President Bush, having lost the popular vote and captured the presidency only through a narrowly decided Supreme Court ruling, hardly seems to acknowledge his tenuous claim to a mandate or earlier pledge to reach out to detractors. Instead of broadening his appeal, he's ignoring the opposition -- on everything from his proposed tax cut to the environment -- as if there were no doubts about what the country wants or needs, no lingering questions about how far he ought to push his agenda.

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.

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.

TC Prince George's County State's Attorney Alexander Williams Jr. says his nomination to a federal judgeship is on track, although a U.S. Senate vote on it may be delayed until early next year.Of three people nominated to Maryland's federal bench by President Clinton in August, Mr. Williams is the only one who has not been confirmed, fueling speculation that questions have been raised about the nomination.The Senate Judiciary Committee is awaiting an evaluation of Mr. Williams by the American Bar Association before scheduling a hearing on the nomination.

Annapolis City Attorney Jonathan A. Hodgson has added his name to the list of applicants for a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the District Court bench, a state courts official said yesterday.Sixteen attorneys had applied for the seat before the original filing deadline of Nov. 1. But that deadline was extended to 4:30 p.m. yesterday because of confusion over an advertisement that erroneously listed the final date to file as Nov. 11.Hodgson, 39, of Annapolis, who has been city attorney for five years, was the only person who took advantage of the deadline extension, said Michael V. O'Malley, an assistant state courts administrator.

WASHINGTON -- Mario Cuomo has taken President Clinton off the hook politically with his public declaration that he isn't interested in the Supreme Court seat being vacated this summer by the retirement of Justice Byron White.Whether Clinton was serious about naming Cuomo -- that's something we'll never know -- his decision last year to mention the New York governor as the kind of justice he would choose had given rise to great expectations in the liberal community. The focus on Cuomo had become so intense that a decision by Clinton to nominate anyone else would have been seen as a humiliating rejection.

BATTEN DOWN the hatches, Howard countians.You are about to be bombarded with what could be one of the nastiest local campaigns in recent memory.The entry of Howard District Court Judge Lenore R. Gelfman and lawyer Jonathan Scott Smith into the race for Circuit Court judgeships promises to be a bruiser. In announcing their candidacies, Judge Gelfman and Mr. Smith came out swinging against Judges Diane O. Leasure and Donna Hill Staton, both of whom were recently appointed to the bench by Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

The fate of two Republican lawyers nominated for federal judgeships in Baltimore may ride with President Bush's re-election bid.Bethesda lawyer William D. Quarles and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine J. Armentrout are among 50 judicial candidates awaiting confirmation, a Senate Judiciary Committee aide said. But the committee, which sends candidates to the full Senate for confirmation, is expected to forward only eight to 10 nominees during the four-week session that begins Sept. 8, the aide said.

Annapolis District Court Judge Martha F. Rasin has been named administrative judge for District 7, which includes the Annapolis and Glen Burnie courts, effective Oct. 30.Robert F. Sweeney, chief judge of the District Court system, announced the appointment yesterday. Judge Rasin succeeds Judge Clayton Greene Jr., who was appointed Thursday to the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court by Gov. Parris N. Glendening.Judge Rasin has been a District Court judge for six years. She was chairman of the District Court Judicial Education Committee and a member of an ad hoc committee to implement changes in Maryland's domestic laws.