Maryland Judiciary

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