Third member of Anne Arundel Judicial Nominating Commission resigns over Miller nomination

A third member of the Anne Arundel County Judicial Nominating Commission has announced her plans to resign in protest over the nomination of Thomas V. Miller III and four other candidates for a District Court judgeship. Miller, the son of Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., the president of the Maryland State Senate, was nominated by the 13-member commission last week. There are three open positions on the panel.

In the last six days, three commissioners, including Paula J. Peters, Eileen E. Powers and Marysabel Rodriguez-Nanney, all attorneys, have announced their intentions to resign. Peters, who was the first to announce her decision last Thursday, alleged that she had been lobbied by unnamed political insiders to support Miller's nomination.

"I decided to resign because of blatant political cronyism," Peters told PolitickerMD.com today. "This was something I had never seen in 20 years on the commission."

Rodriguez-Nanney, who made her intentions clear yesterday, has expressed similar sentiments, telling The Baltimore Sun that said she had been lobbied by "political type people" to support Miller, but said they were not elected officials. Powers said she was not lobbied at all on Miller's behalf, but said some of the candidates, who she declined to name, were not qualified for the position.

In a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley, the three commissioners submitted their resignations, explaining that the process "has shaken our confidence in the system" and "has adversely affected the respect of the bench and bar for the judicial appointment process."

Telephone messages left with Miller and with the Senate president's press office were not returned.

The controversy began late last Wednesday when the nominating commission voted to recommend Miller and the four other candidates who were previously rejected by the commission upon applying for the position in February.

In April, however, O'Malley issued an executive order that required the judicial nominating commission and similar bodies to nominate at least three candidates per vacancy. His press office has said the governor did so because several commissions in various counties did not recommend a sufficient number of nominees to fill each judicial vacancy. The commission had previously nominated five separate candidates out of 31 applicants.

Rick Abbruzzese, O'Malley's director of communications, is traveling with the governor in Israel and could not be reached this afternoon.

Sen. Miller has flatly denied charges of nepotism; telling the Sun that such suggestions are the work of "political enemies," while adding that he has "never, ever" discussed his son's career with the governor.

The younger Miller, 41, has spent the past 12 years as a member of the Maryland Parole Commission; he ranks third in seniority. Previously, he served as an assistant public defender in Prince George's County.

Peters told PolitickerMD.com that the lobbying campaign on Miller's behalf began "before" the first set of judicial candidates were nominated, "in January and February."

"It was very disheartening to see politics become so involved in the process," she said.

Asked if she expected additional members of the commission to resign, Peters said, "I don't think so. I would be surprised to see that."

According to O'Malley's press office, the governor will begin the interview process for the open courtship positions in the near future.