The state?s top public defender and a high-ranking judge are among a list of four finalists for an open seat on the Court of Appeals, Maryland?s highest court.
Maryland State Public Defender Nancy Forster and Maryland Court of Special Appeals Chief Judge Joseph Murphy Jr. are joined by Robert McDonald, a chief in the Maryland Attorney General?s Office, and Towson lawyer and former prosecutor John Austin as the finalists to replace retired Judge Alan Wilner.
In addition to Wilner, Court of Appeals Judges Dale Cathell and Irma Raker will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in the coming months, leaving three vacancies for Gov. Martin O?Malley to appoint during his first term as governor.
With Maryland lawmakers still reeling from conflicts with the court ? where decisions on the public service commission and early voting appeared to favor Republicans ? O?Malley could have power to construct a court more agreeable to the Democratic-controlled legislature.
Maryland Judiciary spokesman Darrell Pressley said a state nominating commission will meet and interview the four candidates and will make recommendations to O?Malley.
The commission could nominate more than one candidate, if members choose.
“The governor will take that list and make that selection from there,” Pressley said.
Baltimore attorney C. Christopher Brown, who rates the judges? ideology based on their rulings, said Wilner and Cathell tended to rule more conservatively and Raker more moderately, according to their opinions in 2005.
