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2002 FINAL STATELEGISLATIVE PROGRAM MIDDLE RANGE ISSUE ISSUE: JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS SUMMARY: The Maryland Constitution empowers the Governor to appoint appellate court judges (subject to Senate confirmation and retention elections), circuit court judges (subject to a contested election), and district court judges (subject to Senate confirmation only). Judicial Nominating Commissions were established by Executive Order in 1970 to propose nominees for appointment to the judiciary by the Governor. In 1995 the Executive Order was revised by the Governor with the intention of adding greater diversity in the composition of the Commissions. The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission consists of 17 members. Eight of the members of this body must be lawyers, 7 of whom are elected by the attorneys in each of the state's appellate judicial circuits, and 1 at large member appointed by the Governor. Of the remaining members of this commission, 8 must be laypersons selected by the Governor on the same geographic basis as the lawyer members. The chairman of the Commission also is selected by the Governor and may or may not be a lawyer. The 16 Trial Court Judicial Nominating Commissions have 13 members each. Six of the members of these bodies are non-lawyers appointed by the Governor, and of the 6 lawyers on the commission, 2 also are named by the Governor on the recommendations of Bar Associations. The remaining four attorney members are elected by the lawyers in the Commission district. The Chairman of each commission is appointed by the Governor and may or may not be an attorney. Between 1989 and 1995 there were several unsuccessful legislative attempts to alter the judicial nominating process by either codifying the commissions into statute, or by giving the State Senate the right to confirm appointments to the commissions. Attorney General's opinions on these proposals declared them to be unconstitutional violations of the separation of powers principle, but the State Senate generally supported the bills in spite of these opinions. Since 1995 there have been no efforts to change the commission process, but significant questions were raised in 1999 concerning the process used to select a circuit court judge in a suburban Baltimore jurisdiction. MSBA 2002 POSITION: The best method of selecting judicial candidates is a mixed system where power is shared within a constitutional framework. The goal of such a system is to minimize political pressure inherent in the appointment process by limiting the influence of any one power center. By specifying the respective roles of the Governor, legislature, lay and lawyer members of the commission, and the lawyers within each judicial district, adequate safeguards have been created to discourage abuse of the judicial appointment process. Any attempt to alter this balance by legislation should be opposed. SAMPLE LEGISLATION:
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