Gov. Martin O?Malley defended his process for selecting judges Thursday, telling listeners of WTOP radio that relatives of political figures who apply for judgeships should not be punished.
On the show “Ask the Governor,” O?Malley was asked whether he would name Thomas V. Miller III, the son of the Senate president, to the district court in Anne Arundel County.
“I think we need to judge them on their own merits, and I trust that?s what will be done here,” O?Malley said. “I haven?t even interviewed them yet.”
Three members of Anne Arundel?s Judicial Nominating Commission resigned recently, allegedly because of political pressure to add Miller to the list of names they submitted for three vacancies.
The Judicial Nominating Commission process was created to remove some of the politics from the appointment of judges. In March, O?Malley issued an executive order requiring that he be sent three names for each vacancy. He said the commission he appointed failed to send him enough names.
“Not one, not two, but three names,” O?Malley said. He said in a few cases he was sent only one name.
“If people can?t count to three, they shouldn?t serve on the Judicial Nominating Commission,” O?Malley said.
O?Malley?s wife, Catherine Curran O?Malley, was named a district court judge in Baltimore when her father, Joseph Curran, was the attorney general and her husband served as mayor. “I don?t think I went through too much criticism,” Curran O?Malley told The Examiner on Thursday. At that time, she was head prosecutor of the white-collar crime unit of the Baltimore County State?s Attorney?s Office.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said he hadn?t spoken to O?Malley about the position and was angry about the allegations about his son, who has served on the state Parole Commission for 12 years.
Miller said he had no influence in his son?s case. The commissioners are appointed by the public safety secretary with the approval of the governor and confirmed by the Senate.
The 10-member commission currently includes two former Republican delegates, two former Democratic senators and another son of a late Democratic senator, and is chaired by the former chairman of the Baltimore GOP, whom O?Malley has retained.
