DeLawrence Beard

Last updated

DeLawrence Beard is a former Chief Judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Montgomery County, Maryland, [1] the highest common law and equity court of record exercising original jurisdiction. [2] He retired on December 26, 2007. [2]

Contents

Biography

Beard was born in Okalona, Arkansas, on December 26, 1937.

After receiving an Honorable Discharge from the United States Navy in 1959, he earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Missouri in 1964.

After attending the University of Baltimore School of Law from 1967 to 1970, earning a J.D., he graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center with an LL.M in 1977.

Beard and his wife Lillian, a pediatrician and author, live in Potomac, Maryland. [3]

Controversy

Beard had approved a petition by a gay man to adopt his same-sex partner of 32 years in order to establish a legal family relationship, mainly for purposes of inheritance and being able to make legally enforceable decisions about each other's medical care. The attorney for the two men, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that they were a middle-aged couple, and that the younger man had adopted the older one, whose parents are deceased and thus could not object.

The order approving the adoption requires that a new birth certificate be issued to the older man, listing the younger man as his parent. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Ex parte Merryman</i> United States legal case

Ex parte Merryman, 17 F. Cas. 144 (No. 9487), was a controversial U.S. federal court case that arose out of the American Civil War. It was a test of the authority of the President to suspend "the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus" under the Constitution's Suspension Clause, when Congress was in recess and therefore unavailable to do so itself. More generally, the case raised questions about the ability of the executive branch to decline to enforce judicial decisions when the executive believes them to be erroneous and harmful to its own legal powers.

Forum shopping is a colloquial term for the practice of litigants taking actions to have their legal case heard in the court they believe is most likely to provide a favorable judgment. Some jurisdictions have, for example, become known as "plaintiff-friendly" and thus have attracted plaintiffs to file new cases there, even if there is little or no connection between the legal issues and the jurisdiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cranch</span> American judge (1769–1855)

William Cranch was a United States circuit judge and chief judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. A staunch Federalist and nephew of President John Adams, Cranch moved his legal practice from Massachusetts to the new national capital, where he became one of three city land commissioners for Washington, D.C., and during his judicial service also was the 2nd Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and a Professor of law at Columbian College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of Maryland</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Maryland

The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis. The term of the Court begins the second Monday of September. The Court is unique among American courts in that the justices wear red robes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Maryland</span> State government of the United States

The government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irma S. Raker</span> American judge

Irma Steinberg Raker is a Senior Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. In 2007, she was awarded the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award for outstanding women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way for other women in the legal profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appellate Court of Maryland</span> Marylands intermediate appellate court

The Appellate Court of Maryland is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state of Maryland. The Appellate Court of Maryland was created in 1966 in response to the rapidly growing caseload in the Supreme Court of Maryland. Like the state's highest court, the tribunal meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Milano Keenan</span> Austrian-American judge (born 1950)

Barbara Louise Milano Keenan is a senior United States circuit judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Gribbon Motz</span> American judge (born 1943)

Diana Jane Gribbon Motz is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter J. Messitte</span> American judge (born 1941)

Peter Jo Messitte is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

The Circuit Courts of Maryland are the state trial courts of general jurisdiction in Maryland. They are Maryland's highest courts of record exercising original jurisdiction at law and in equity in all civil and criminal matters, and have such additional powers and jurisdiction as conferred by the Maryland Constitution of 1867 as amended, or by law. The Circuit Courts also preside over divorce and most family law matters. Probate and estate matters are handled by a separate Orphans' Court. The Circuit Courts are the only Maryland state courts empowered to conduct jury trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn B. McHugh</span> American judge (born 1957)

Carolyn Baldwin McHugh is an American lawyer and judge who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. and former Presiding Judge of the Utah Court of Appeals.

This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage in the United States. On June 26, 2015, the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively ended restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States.

Kathryn J. DuFour was the first female judge in the Maryland Circuit Courts. The law library at The Catholic University of America is named in her honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randolph Moss</span> American judge (born 1961)

Randolph Daniel Moss is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Charles William Woodward. was an American jurist who served Chief Judge of Maryland's Sixth Judicial Court and a member of its bench from 1932 until 1955.

Zuberi Bakari Williams is an American attorney and jurist serving as an associate judge of the District Court of Maryland, for Montgomery County. He was appointed by former Governor Martin O'Malley in December 2014. He was later confirmed by the Maryland Senate and sworn in on January 6, 2015. At the age of 36, Williams became one of the youngest judges to be appointed in Maryland history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius N. Richardson</span> American judge (born 1976)

Julius Ness "Jay" Richardson is an American judge and lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamika Montgomery-Reeves</span> American judge (born 1981)

Tamika Renee Montgomery-Reeves is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She previously served as an Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

References

  1. "Hon. DeLawrence Beard Biography". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  2. 1 2 DeLawrence Beard, Maryland Circuit Court Judge
  3. "Circuit Judge Retires After 25 Years". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2018-11-09.
  4. (Title Not Known) The Washington Post, May 26, 2001. (fee required)