Four applicants still are in the running for the Howard Circuit judge vacancy after a nomination committee released its top choices Wednesday.
The nominees to be considered for appointment by Gov. Martin O?Malley are Howard County State?s Attorney Timothy McCrone, Howard?s Senior Assistant State?s Attorney Mary Murphy, Master Marlys Elaine Patrick and private lawyer Ricardo Zwaig.
“I have no doubt that any of those four will carry on a long tradition,” said Howard Circuit Judge Dennis Sweeney, who is retiring this month after 16 years on the bench.
“We have a wonderful court here, and the judges are all very good people. … They?re dedicated and fair.”
Selection of nominees
The selection process began with an application touching on personal history, law practice, and business and civic involvement.
Under the Maryland Constitution, the legal qualifications for appointed judges are:
» U.S. and Maryland citizenship
» Registration to vote in state elections at the time of appointment;
» Residence in Maryland for at least five years;
» Residence, for at least six months before appointment, in the geographic area where the vacancy exists;
» At least 30 years of age at the time of appointment;
» Membership inthe Maryland Bar.
Narrowing down the list
The applicants then were reviewed by a 13-member commission that interviewed and recommended several people they feel are most qualified.
Before interviews with the commission, the applicants had to undergo interviews with several bar associations, including the Women?s Bar Association.
Those associations then could offer their recommendations to the commission, said Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the Howard County State?s Attorney?s Office.
O?Malley is expected to appoint one of the final nominees to serve for a 15-year term in February.
“The process is pretty speedy,” Kirwan said, because O?Malley will need to appoint someone by Dec. 3, which is when the appointed person must file to run for office in the presidential primary.
If McCrone is appointed, the Howard Circuit Court must appoint someone to fill his position until 2010, Kirwan said.
On the commission
Nominating committees consist primarily of lawyers, but also include business leaders, education professionals and community activists.
O?Malley selected nine people this summer who applied to serve on the commission and assist him in selecting Maryland trial court judges.
The other five members were selected by the Maryland Bar Association, said Christine Hansen, spokeswoman for the governor?s office.
“They want people with a wide variety of different [law] practices … to basically be able to quantify the qualifications of nominees based on their own areas of expertise,” Kirwan said.
“It?s how it?s been done for 30 years,” Hansen said.
The other applicants were Robert Norman Keehner, Gabriel Antonio Terrasa, David Alan Titman, William Vincent Tucker and Paul Marion Vettori.
AT A GLANCE
Members of the nominating commission for the Howard County Circuit judge vacancy:
Chairman Jason Shapiro: Shapiro & Mack P.A., Columbia; criminal defense
Harry Adler: Plaxen & Adler, Columbia; admiralty and maritime law
Ankur Dalal: No information was available
Charles Fuller: Law Offices of Charles L. Fuller, Columbia; criminal defense and personal injury
Cornelia Bright Gordon: Legal Aid Bureau lawyer, Baltimore City
Sandra Gray: Ellicott City resident; wife of C. Vernon Gray in Cabinet of Howard County Executive Ken Ulman
Angela Grau: Davis, Agnor, Rapaport & Skalny LLC, Columbia; guardianship actions, elder law
Carol Magid Johnson: Baltimore City Public Defender?s Office
Sang Oh: Law Offices of Sang W. Oh P.A., Ellicott City
Bruce Rothschild: Private lawyer, Columbia; commercial transactions, corporate and employment law
Fred Howard Silverstein: Law Offices of Fred Howard Silverstein, Ellicott City; family law
Jolie Gelman Weinberg: Weinberg Schwartz & Steyer, Columbia; family law
