Maryland Judiciary
Separation of Power
•Executive
•Legislative
•Judicial
Circuit CourtJury
District CourtNo jury
Court of Appeals
Court of Special Appeals
Imagine yourself in this simple situation.
You walk out of your classroom and see a 19 year old student writing with a pencil on the wall.
There is a bomb
There is a
The teacher notes that:the student is wearing an armband
the student drops a roach What are the rights of the student? What are the rights of the school?
You call the principal and explain
what you saw.
This sounds like a simple case,
but we’ll see what happens.
The principal takes a picture of the writing on the wall, brings the student to his office and calls the student’s parents and the police. Principal takes no further action.
Police interview student; read student Miranda warning; student admits to writing on wall. Charges are filed.
Charging Statute
Felony: to threaten to explode a destructive device
Misdemeanor: “willfully disturb or otherwise willfully prevent the orderly conduct of the activities, administration, or classes of any institution of elementary, secondary, or higher education.”
ArrestedDistrict Court Commissioner
Circuit CourtJury
District CourtNo jury
Court of Appeals
Court of Special Appeals
• Judicial officers, appointed by the Chief Judge
• Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Independent judicial officers
Commissioners have two primary responsibilities:• Reviewing Applications for Statement of Charges to determine whether probable cause exists to issue charging documents; and• Conducting initial appearance hearings on arrested individuals to decide the conditions of pre-trial release
District Court Commissioners
• Chief Judge• 34 Court locations • 1600 employees, including
– 112 Judges, 10 year appointment – 254 Commissioners
• 12 Administrative Judges, Commissioners, and Clerks
• Headquarters – Chief Clerk, 4 Assistant Chief Clerks
THE FACE OF DISTRICT COURT
• Where most people experience the judicial system• Pro se litigants• No jury trials… litigants interact directly with judge
District CourtDistrict Court
A wide variety of cases come to this court. • Motor vehicle and boating violations• Small Claims • Civil lawsuits up to a certain $ amount• Misdemeanors and felonies• Landlord and tenant disputes• Domestic Violence, and• Peace Orders
• Specialized courts
District CourtDistrict Court
Case Filings by TypeDistrict Court - 2006
DISTRICT COURT CASES FY2006
23%
9%
9%
59%
LT
CIVIL
CRIMINAL
TRAFFIC
CASESLT 531,384
CIVIL 206,272
CRIMINAL 201,779
TRAFFIC 1,389,518
2,328,953
2,328,953
Baltimore County
1971Magistrate located in a used car
dealership and repair shop.
2007
District Court--- then and now
Budget
Operational: $125,000,000
Capital: Rockville, Centerville, Cumberland, La Plata, Catonsville, Baltimore City
• Judicial independence• Judicial salaries (NY)• Facilities/operations
Evidence
• Police officer’s statement that student admitted to writing “There is a bomb.”
•Teacher’s eyewitness testimony that he/she saw student write on the wall
• Criminal case “Beyond reasonable doubt.”
When a case is appealed, it moves to circuit court, where the case is retried.
District Court AppealsDistrict Court Appeals
The face of Circuit Court•24 locations; one in each county, one in Baltimore City
•Funded by city or county
•Handles approximately 300,000 case per year
•146 judges, appointed & must run in special election
•Chair of judicial conference
Circuit Court Handles
• Major civil cases • Serious criminal cases• All juvenile & family cases• Hears all jury cases and• Appeals from District Court
• De Novo• Jury trial• Beyond reasonable doubt
• Specialized courts
The court finds the student guilty of breaking the Maryland law that makes it a misdemeanor to:
“willfully disturb or otherwise willfully prevent the orderly conduct of the activities, administration, or classes of any institution of elementary, secondary, or higher education.”
What do you think?
CircuitCircuit CourtCourt
The boy and his lawyer don’t think so and decide to appeal his case to the Court of Special Appeals. The basis of the appeal was a legal argument that the incident did not fall within the statute, because there was no “evidence of any actual disturbance or disruption of school activities…”
Court of Special Appeals
The face of Court of Special Appeals
• Intermediate appellate court
• Handles any reviewable judgments
• 13 judges, but generally hears cases in panels of 3
• 10 year appointment; retention elections
Court of Special Appeals
Standard of Review
•Abuse of Discretion – evidentiary issues
• De Novo--- legal interpretation
Statutory Interpretation• Plain meaning of words
• Legislative intent
• Legislative record
• Newspaper commentator
Court of Special Appeals
When do you have Judicial activism?
• Ignoring the law
• Enacting law from bench
• Interpretation
In this case, the Court of Special Appeals agrees with the boy saying that the boy’s action did not constitute a disturbance or the prevention of orderly
activities in the school. Essentially the court says that the boy simply wrote on the wall. What do you think?
Court of Special Appeals
The State’s attorney and the school disagree with the Court of Special Appeals and decide to take the case to the highest court in the state, the Court of Appeals.
Court of Appeals
The face of Court of Appeals
• Chief judge
• Highest court
• Hears cases by way of certiorari
• 7 judges
• Hears oral arguments
• Legislative intent
The Court of Appeals upholds the decision of the Court of Special Appeals.
Statutory interpretation
Legislative intent--- newspaper articles
Court of AppealsCourt of Appeals
Court of AppealsCourt of Appeals
Case reversed.
Court of Appeals rejects the state’s argument. It states: “there is a level of disturbance that is simply part of the school activity, that is intended to be dealt within the context of school administration… The only sensible reading of the statute is that …there must not only be an ‘actual disturbance,’ but the disturbance must be more than a minimal one.”
What do you think?
Maryland Appellate Court Opinions may be found at
http://www.courts.state.md.us/opinions.html
District Court website: http://mdcourts.gov/district/index.html