Delay to Be Sought In Charles Court Pick

List of Nominees Lacks Diversity, Sen. Middleton Says

State Sen. Thomas M. Middleton plans to request that the governor delay appointing a judge to the Charles County Circuit Court because of concerns over the racial diversity of the candidate pool.

Middleton (D-Charles) said he will meet with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to discuss the three people nominated to replace Circuit Court Judge Christopher C. Henderson, who retired Oct. 30.

Middleton said he was disheartened by the lack of an African American nominee. He said Charles has never had a black judge at the District Court or Circuit Court level, despite being home to one of the country's fastest-growing black populations.

"I had hoped that the judicial nominating commission would have been more sensitive to the issue of changing demographics in Charles County, and I think the governor may want to wait a little while," Middleton said. "We have a significant African American population in Charles, so there should be an African American on the bench."

Black residents in Charles have frequently criticized county leaders for failing to hire African Americans for high-ranking positions. Although African Americans are 36 percent of the county's population, few hold management positions in county government. County commissioners have said they try to find and recruit highly qualified black candidates.

"Lord, have mercy, Mac [Middleton] has stepped up to the plate," said William Braxton, president of the county NAACP. "This is the kind of initiative we've been looking for. There is absolutely no reason one of the names sent to the governor couldn't have been an African American."

News of Middleton's intentions comes as a second Charles judge prepares to leave the bench. District Court Judge Richard A. Cooper plans to retire in March after 12 years on the bench, he said this week. Cooper, 66, said he hopes to continue to serve on a part-time basis but wanted to retire when he became eligible for a full pension.

"I have my time in, and I'm old enough, so I thought it was time to go," Cooper said.

The timeline for selecting Cooper's replacement has not been announced.

At least two of the 10 applicants for Henderson's seat are black, but the county's judicial nominating committee selected two white men and a white woman for O'Malley's consideration. On the governor's list are W. Louis Hennessy, a Charles District Court judge; Helen I. Harrington, master of domestic relations in Charles Circuit Court and a teen court judge; and Thomas R. Simpson Jr., a La Plata lawyer and former assistant state's attorney in Charles.

Rudolf A. Carrico Jr., chairman of the county's judicial nominating commission, was out of town this week and could not be reached for comment.

Middleton said he knows all three nominees on the governor's list and has no doubts about their qualifications, but he said he thinks that considering an African American for a judge's position is overdue. When he took office in 1994, he said, he told people who asked about the possibility of a black judge that there was a dearth of qualified black lawyers to apply.

"But you can't make the case anymore that there aren't people out there with the qualifications," he said. "I take the symbolism of having an African American on the bench very seriously."

Middleton said he does not plan to request that the nominees' names be thrown out. One solution would be for O'Malley to delay the selection of Henderson's replacement until he is ready to announce Cooper's successor.

If an African American is chosen for the District Court position, Middleton said, announcing the two new judges together would put the focus on the county's first black judge rather than on those who were passed over for the Circuit Court seat.