Abrams v. Lamone

Concurring Opinion by WILNER, J. I concur with and join Chief Judge Bell’s Opinion and write separately only to respond to Judge Eldridge’s peculiar conclusions that the Constitution does not mean what it plainly says and that, even if it did, the Court shouldn’t say so. Article V, § 4 of the Constitution states with marvelous clarity and simplicity that a person is not eligible to the office of Attorney General who has not “practiced law in this State for at least ten years.” Now, one may fairly debate whether, for purposes of that provision, certain conduct constitutes the practice of law in this State—teaching law at a law school, for example, or serving as a judge or arbitrator, or administrative law judge or hearing examiner. But to conclude that it does not require the practice of law at all in Maryland is simply extraordinary. Judge Eldridge thinks that all that is required is that a person have been admitted to the Maryland Bar for ten years.

That is not what the Constitution says, however. As Chief Judge Bell points out, in other sections, the Constitution explicitly makes membership in the Maryland Bar the effective criterion. In defining the qualifications of the Attorney General, however, the People deliberately chose a different requirement. Upon the recommendation of the Convention delegates, they determined that, to be eligible for the office of Attorney General, a person must have actually practiced law in this State for ten years. ²³¹ Under Judge Eldridge’s view, a person could pass the Bar Examination, be admitted to practice, open a liquor store, never do anything that could conceivably, under any definition, constitute the practice of law, become politically active, and ten years later be elected as Attorney General of Maryland.

The notion that that is what the Convention delegates or the People had in mind in 1864 and 1867 is really absurd. It is belied by the plain language of the Constitutional provision and is belied as well by the debates in the Constitutional Conventions. The challenge to Mr. Perez’s candidacy was that he had not practiced law in Maryland for ten years. The focus on his not being admitted to the Maryland Bar for that period was part of the argument by Abrams that Perez had not lawfully