Contested Judicial Elections

I do not use my Blog as a political forum except as to laws the General Assembly has or needs to pass. Today, a lawyer blogger (Page Croyder) filed to run for Circuit Court in Baltimore City because she believes one of the male judges up for re-election is “horrible” and sexist. There will be 7 present judges running for re-election. The ballot is printed alphabetically. The “horrible” male judge is number 4 on the ballot. The blogger will be either number 3 or 4. NO ONE except lawyers knows a damn thing about the judges. ZERO!!! Every election I get calls from every non lawyer I know asking me who to vote for. I have campaigned for years and you get a few seconds at the polls to try to explain why to retain the Sitting Judges. When there are 3 or 4 running, it is still difficult to point out the challenger even when the ballot has these few names. You can explain some of the backgrounds of the 3 or 4 Sitting Judges. Now there will be 8 names, and the voter will have a little more difficult time, skipping over one name in the middle of an election ballot. The last named judge (Julie Rubin), who I have never met nor appeared before, is already beloved. She is off the chain brilliant and runs a wonderful courtroom. I know her dad, who is a fine lawyer, and the acorn did not fall far from the tree. The “horrible” judge is a mortal lock to be re-elected. There is no way he loses because of ballot position. The end result is that a female judge who is already thought of as one of the best judges in Baltimore City will be off the bench. Insane! Judge Rubin can do more to restore to the court whatever dignity Page thinks is lost by the presence of the male judge, than Page will ever be able to do. People have tried in the past to run against 1 judge, and it never, never, works. The last on the ballot gets defeated, and Page knows this. This is a train wreck in the making, and I just felt the need to say something publicly, in addition to expressing this on the private Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ list serve. If you live in Baltimore City, make sure you make a note to vote for Julie Rubin and not Page Croyder.