As a follow up to our President’s call to action in
last month’s 
newsletter (“We Need More Black Judges”),
I would like to offer a few words of advice to those who may have judicial
aspirations. Over the years, many lawyers
have come to me requesting advice on obtaining judicial appointments.
I wish I could offer some magical formula that will guarantee success.
Unfortunately, I cannot. Nevertheless, I suggest that the ultimate keys
to success are preparation, timing,
and perseverance. At the outset, you
should immediately obtain a copy of the “Confidential Personal
Questionnaire” found at the Maryland Judicial website http://www.courts.state.md.us/judgeselect/judgeappl.html even
if you are not planning to apply for any immediate openings. This is
a very long and tedious form and it should not be prepared in haste or
at the last minute. This is the primary document that will be reviewed
to ascertain your fitness for judicial office other than your personal
interviews. Additionally, you should begin immediately preparing sufficient
writing samples that are examples of your very best work. I would also
strongly urge that you have a reliable colleague, judge or law professor
review and critique your writing samples and your entire application
well in advance of submission. While there are those who place great
import upon political connections and sponsorships for these coveted
positions, you must be ever mindful that the most important decision
is ultimately up to the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Governor
to determine first, on an objective basis, whether you are a candidate
fully qualified and capable of assuming judicial office.
This brings me to my second suggestion: that you carefully
review the “Handbook for Judicial
Applicants” found at the Maryland
State Bar Association’s web site http://msba.org/sec_comm/committees/judappt/.
This document lists seven factors that are applied in the MSBA Judicial
Nominations Committee’s evaluation process. I would suggest that
you set personal goals for addressing all criteria in both your professional
and personal lives. While it is important to be well versed in the
law and comfortable with court proceedings, it is equally important
that you enjoy the respect of your community as a person recognized
for your civic involvement and charitable activities. Such activities
not only display the sense of humility necessary to make important
decisions with respect to the lives of others, but also signal your
connectedness and commitment to the community and people you hope to
serve.
Third, I urge you to remain attentive
to the letter and the spirit of the Code of Professional Responsibility
and maintain civility with other members of the bar and the bench.
When in doubt, don’t
hesitate to discuss your performance with any member of the bench directly,
including myself. Rest assured that we are all eager to have others
join our ranks that have a desire to take on the challenges and rewards
we face on a daily basis.
While these suggestions may prepare you for judicial appointment,
how do you determine when the timing is right for you to apply? Let me
suggest that you refer to the “Maryland
Manual” on line where you will find
the biographies of all Maryland judges including their dates of birth.
Remember that all judges “must” retire at the age of seventy;
therefore, you can easily calculate the certainty of a number of vacancies http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/html/00list.html.
Next, refer to the judiciary budget submissions in each legislative session
to ascertain the creation of any new positions. Finally, consult the
judiciary website frequently to explore any new vacancies http://www.courts.state.md.us/judgeselect/judicialvacancy.html.
That being said, when should you submit
your application? My suggestion is that if you are really serious about
being a member of the judiciary, you should
apply as soon as you have met all the minimum requirements for appointment.
If you are lucky enough to be
nominated by the Commission on your first attempt, then you are truly
one of the fortunate few! Conversely, if you are not nominated on
your first submission, regard it as a learning opportunity and work
on any shortcomings you feel you possess; i.e., trial experience,
diversity of practice, bar involvement, and continue to apply again
and again, if necessary. Once nominated remember that your nomination
remains active for two years and plan to campaign like the dickens
during that time until you are appointed. Nevertheless, if you’re not appointed within the two year period, don’t
be deterred. Remember, none of you have attained the positions you
now hold as licensed practitioners without having successfully completed
the grueling process of three or four years of law school and the agony
of the bar examination. If you did not quit then, I urge you not to
do so now.
One of the reasons I frequently
hear lamented about the lack of minorities in the judiciary is the
dearth of “qualified” applicants.
I offer a challenge to each of you who truly aspires to be a member
of the judiciary to dispel that notion.
Thurman H. Rhodes Sr.
Associate Judge
of the District Court
District Five
It’s April now and mirroring the open “madness”
of March’s NCAA quest for glory are the quiet but fierce behind-the-scenes
campaigns for Maryland judicial appointments. As the celebrated basketball
tournament and the Maryland legislative session both grind down to their
final hours, the scramble for judicial appointments is getting into
high gear. Back room chats, closed door meetings, bar events and gatherings,
impromptu and deliberate hallway encounters, lunch meetings, letters
on impressive stationery, telephone and e-mail exchanges all provide
opportunities to vet and to politic. In Prince George’s County,
the race is on for two positions on the District Court and for the unannounced
circuit court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Richard
Sothoron. Montgomery County sports two circuit court vacancies
created by the retirements of Judges DeLawrence Beard
and Ann N. Sundt. In the 3rd and 7th Appellate Circuits,
competition is heating up for appointment to the Court of Special Appeals
and the Court of Appeals, respectively, and two more high-level vacancies
are on the way.
Unlike partisan campaigns for elective office, judicial
campaigns take place largely out of public sight—but they are
every bit as intense. The process is primarily appointive, not elective,
and because most of the maneuvering is out of sight, popular opinion
and accountability to the electorate are seldom critical factors in
the selection of judges. Beneath the veneer of civility and political
correctness, judicial aspirants, their supporters and detractors scramble
feverishly for the attention of members of local judicial nomination
commissions, legislators, business and civic leaders, and the Governor
himself. The prizes: judgeships, with their lifetime security, prestige
and ability to wield enormous power. Like closely guarded pearls, they
are treasured and bestowed upon a select few.
Small wonder, then, that those who have historically
been in control of these prizes manipulate the process to remain in
control. Why do otherwise? The fact is, that, as with practically every
other field of endeavor in American society in the wake of centuries
of discriminatory practices and policies, white males enjoy a tremendous
head start in the competition for judicial vacancies. From its inception,
the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association—named in honor of the first
black judge to be appointed to the District Court for Prince George’s
County (and that only in 1971, a mere 37 years ago)—has publicly
and forcefully advocated for the appointment and elevation of African
Americans to the Bench. Thanks in no small measure to organizations
such as Bourne and the Monumental City Bar Association, a great deal
of progress has been made in the area of judicial appointments. Indeed,
the head of the entire Maryland Judiciary, Chief Judge Robert
M. Bell, a proud and socially conscious African American, and
his colleague on the Court of Appeals, the Honorable Clayton
Greene, Jr., are beneficiaries of this activist tradition.
But current trends and history itself remind us that
we must be ever vigilant and active against the “natural”
trend to revert to the exclusionary practices of the past via the “good
ol’ boys” networks, a trend visible in Prince George’s
and Montgomery Counties (and throughout the State of Maryland, generally).
Consider these demographics: The Prince George’s
County judiciary is presently comprised of 23 Circuit Court and 15 District
Court judicial positions. The most recent census for Prince Georges’
County places the African American population at 66%.
- Of the 23 Circuit Court judicial positions, 10
(43%) are held by African-Americans.
- Of the 15 District Court judicial positions,
4 (27%) are held by African Americans.
Two positions on the District Court formerly held
by African Americans are presently vacant. If both these positions are
filled by African Americans, the level on the District Court would increase
to 6 (40%), still more than 20% below a representative number. One outrageous
statistic is that no African American males have been appointed to either
Circuit or District Court in Prince George’s County since September
2000, although qualified African-American males have been on the “short
list”. This includes six (6) appointments to the District Court
and eight (8) appointments to the Circuit Court.
The numbers for Montgomery County are even worse.
Chief Judge Beard’s retirement from that circuit
court leaves only one African American among the remaining 21 judges
(4.8%). Only one African American (Administrative Judge Eugene
Wolfe) serves on the District Court out of 11 judges (9%).
This in a so-called “progressive” county whose chief executive
officer is black and whose African American population is 16.8%.
To help remedy these under-represented proportions,
currently there are three African American candidates on the “short
list” for Prince George’s County Circuit Court—all
members of JFB: Judges Krystal Alves, Hassan El-Amin, and Thurman
Rhodes. There are three black candidates on the “short
list” for the District Court: Bourne members Tiffany Hanna
Anderson and Elveta M. Martin, and soon-to-be member
Larry V. Hill. In Montgomery County, four African Americans
have applied for the circuit court, among them past JFB President
Sharon V. Burrell, and current Public Relations Committee Chair
Venita M. Taylor.
Please support these candidates! Meet with them and
give them constructive criticism. Talk them up. Mention them to your
colleagues. E-mail or call them and ask what you can do to assist them
to get approved by their nominating commission and/or to get the Governor’s
nod.
You don’t want to get involved? You want to
remain on the sidelines? Just look at how bad things can get when we
leave the competition to others: there are NO black judges in Charles
County and only ONE in close-by Anne Arundel County!
Do we want to go back in time? If so, we should continue
with the “business as usual” mode too many of us are now
in. If not, we must become/remain aware and engaged. The hard-working
members of JFB’s Judicial Nominating Committee, whom we hereby
salute (they worked deep into several nights), provide good examples
of the kind of involvement we need. But we cannot leave these judicial
selections up to this committee alone. For example, we must hold our
legislators partially accountable for the lack of proportionate representation
in the judiciary. We also need to get the Lieutenant Governor more involved.
After all, wouldn’t it be worth the effort to have more people
who look like us, who share significant existential commonalities with
us, presiding in the case(s) we argue? Or sitting in judgment of some
of our feuding neighbors or our under-achieving, hard-headed clients
and/or family members?
Hon. Hassan Ali El-Amin
President
J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association
Thanks and Kudos for Jobs Well Done! The officers
and members of JFB proudly thank the following members
of its Judicial Nominations Committee, who have given so much of their
time and energy over the past
several months to study and interview the dozens of applicants for
the recent court vacancies: Tiffany
Alston, Vernell Arrington, Maurene Epps-Webb, M. Andrée Green,
Marilyn Pierre, Holly Reed, William
Shipp, Gina Smith, William Snoddy, Dennis Whitley, and Isaac Marks,
Chair.
We also express our pride in and gratitude for
the JFB members of the Governor’s Nominating Commissions
who have been working very hard to ensure fairness and minority representation
in nominating judicial
candidates to the Governor: Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission
member Gabriel Christian; Trial
Courts Commission District 11 – Montgomery County member, Michael
Banks, Trial Courts Commission
13 -- Prince George’s County members, Gregory Wells (Chair),
Abigale Bruce-Watson, ShaRon Kelsey,
Bridgette Greer, Felecia Greer, and Arthur Horne, Jr. Thanks, too,
to those who serve on the judicial
nominations panels of the various specialty bars. Among them are Elizabeth
Hewlett, (MSBA), Charles
Maynard, Pauline Johnson, and Aaronette Carter.
