Character Committee for Third Judicial Circuit v. Mandras

Henderson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal is from an order of the Maryland Board of Law Examiners reversing the action of the Character Committee of Baltimore County finding and reporting to the Board that the appellee, George Mandras, did not “possess the good moral character requisite for admission to the Maryland Bar”. Under the Rules of this Court, governing registration of law students and admission to the Bar of Maryland, Fourth (5), Md. Code (1963 Supp.), Vol. 9A, p. 18, it is provided that “if the said Board [of Law Examiners] shall decide the applicant is entitled to registration or listing and the Character Committee having the matter in charge should desire to have such decision reviewed, the Character Committee shall have the privilege, upon ten days’ notice to the applicant, of an appeal therefrom to the Court of Appeals within thirty days after such decision.” Rule Fourth (2) requires that students shall answer a ques ²⁸⁷ tionnaire (Form A) eliciting information concerning personal history and prior conduct, and states that “[t]he applicant shall at all times have the burden of proving his or her good moral character * * *, and the failure of an applicant to answer any question * * * shall justify a finding that the applicant has not met the burden of proof of establishing the applicant’s good moral character.” The applicant filled out Form A. He answered in the negative the following question: “Are you now or have you ever been a subversive person as defined by the Subversive Activities Act of 1949 of the General Assembly of Maryland?” (See Code (1957), Art. 85 A, sec. 1.) In the course of its investigation the Committee learned that Mandras had been a member of the Communist Party. When called before the Committee he frankly admitted that he had been a member of the party from March, 1948 until October, 1948, when he was 18 years of age.

He denied that he had ever been a subversive person, or that he had ever advocated the overthrow of the government by force. In the light of the holding of the Supreme Court of the United States in Schware v. Board of Law Examiners, 353 U. S. 232 and Konigsberg v. State Bar, 353 U. S. 252 , we agree with the Board of Daw Examiners that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of a lack of good moral character on this score. Nor do we have any evidence here of a