The legal efforts of former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Clark to be reinstated as commissioner may hinge on arguments today before the Maryland Court of Appeals.
Clark, who was fired in November 2004 after then-Mayor Martin O?Malley called him a distraction to the city?s crime-fighting efforts, sued the city, alleging his termination was illegal. In a June 2006 ruling, the state?s Court of Special Appeals agreed, saying the former commissioner was a public official and could not be fired without just cause.
Now, both sides are squaring off for final arguments before the state?s highest court. If the court rules in Clark?s favor, the city could conceivably have two police commissioners, according to Clark?s attorney, A. Dwight Pettit.
“If he was fired illegally as the Court of Special Appeals ruled ? if the decision is upheld, he should be able to step right back into his job,” Pettit said. The current commissioner is Leonard Hamm.
In a recent deposition in a discrimination case against the Baltimore Police Department, Zeinab Rabold, one of Clark?s top commanders, said the allegations of domestic abuse made against Clark prior to his dismissal were bogus. “They were too busy trying to set up the man to fire him,” he told city attorneys in sworn testimony about a domestic-abuse case that Howard County police later said was baseless.
But a brief filed by city attorneys argued that Clark?s contract gave O?Malley the right to fire him, regardless of circumstance. The contract, they said, required only that Clark be given 45 days notice, which they said he was.
Pettit, though, said the case has implications beyond the employment status of his client.
“Throughout the nation we?ve had this question of how far an appointing authority can control law enforcement, particularly if they start an investigation that is unfavorable to the appointee,” he said.
Pettit said that if he prevails, he will begin deposing city officials immediately. “From the governor on down,” he said.
