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Saturday, August 05, 2006

Law - When judges' husbands run for office

Some quotes from a story today in the Washington Post:

She is smart, articulate, and accomplished and grew up in a prominent political family. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) could hardly ask for a spouse better suited for the campaign trail -- in fact, that's where they met.

But as the mayor runs for governor, Catherine Curran O'Malley may be the greatest asset he is not able to tap.

Besides being the mayor's wife, Katie O'Malley is a district court judge in Baltimore -- a job that effectively mutes her this political season. Like other Maryland judges, she is prohibited by a judicial code of conduct from engaging in partisan political activity. * * *

Anne Holton, first lady of Virginia, found herself in a similar spot last year when her husband, Timothy M. Kaine (D), ran for governor while she served on the bench. After Kaine won, Holton stepped down -- something Katie O'Malley said she does not plan to do. * * *

The Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits "any partisan political activity" by judges unless they are running their own campaign. But the code provides no specifics on what activity is permissible, and a judicial ethics committee has offered only limited guidance in recent decades.

"There is no clear bright line," said John H. Tisdale, a circuit judge in Frederick County who chairs the Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee. But he said there is some room for judges to act as supportive spouses. "She doesn't have to move out of the house and give up her right to associate with him."

That, O'Malley aides say, leaves a good deal of gray area to negotiate -- and generates occasional flak from Republicans who say the O'Malleys are pushing the limits.

Katie O'Malley accompanied her husband when he announced his bid for governor last fall, but she had no speaking role. Last month, she avoided a fiery campaign rally outside the State House in Annapolis on the day O'Malley filed as a candidate. But she met him and his supporters at the end of a march to state election board headquarters.

"Judge O'Malley!" a sweat-soaked mayor exclaimed, before giving his wife a hug and kiss. * * *

Although Holton chose to step down from her post, the spouses of at least three current U.S. governors are judges.

Marjorie Rendell, the wife of Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D), sits on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Mary Pawlenty, the wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), is a district judge in the state; and Gary Sebelius, the husband of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), who refers to himself as the state's "first dude," is a federal magistrate judge.

A former prosecutor in Baltimore County, Katie O'Malley was appointed by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D). As a district judge in Baltimore, she handles a range of cases, many related to drug use, domestic violence and traffic violations.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 5, 2006 03:05 PM
Posted to Courts in general