Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey
Brynja McDivitt Booth
2019 - Present
2030
6
Brynja McDivitt Booth is a judge for the 1st Circuit of the Maryland Supreme Court. She assumed office on April 18, 2019. Her current term ends on December 31, 2030.
Booth ran for re-election for the 1st Appellate Circuit judge of the Appellate Court of Maryland. She won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.
Booth became a member of the court through gubernatorial appointment. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) appointed Booth to the position on March 12, 2019 and the Maryland State Senate confirmed the appointment on March 22, 2019.[1][2] The court's name changed from the Maryland Court of Appeals to the Maryland Supreme Court, following a ballot initiative that voters approved in November 2022.[3] To read more about judicial selection in Maryland, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[4] Maryland received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[5] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Booth was born in Olean, New York in 1972. She earned a B.A., cum laude, from Bucknell University in 1993 and a J.D., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1996.[1][6] Booth served as a law clerk to the Hon. William Home of the Circuit Court in Talbot County, Maryland. Before joining the Maryland Supreme Court, she was an attorney and shareholder of Booth, Booth, Cropper & Marriner, P.C.[1] She was a shareholder at Cowdrey Thompson, P.C. for 15 years.[6]
Gov. Hogan appointed Booth to the Maryland Supreme Court on March 12, 2019, and the Maryland State Senate confirmed the appointment on March 22, 2019. She is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.[7][6]
Elections
2020
Maryland Court of Appeals 1st Appellate Circuit (Historical)
Brynja McDivitt Booth was retained to the 1st Appellate Circuit of the Appellate Court of Maryland on November 3, 2020 with 83.0% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
83.0
|
156,548 | ||
No |
17.0
|
32,037 | |||
Total Votes |
188,585 | ||||
|
|
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brynja McDivitt Booth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Brynja
Booth
Maryland
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Booth was appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
Noteworthy cases
Noteworthy cases may be selected due to their impact on legal precedent, substantial media attention, or overlaps with another area of editorial interest at Ballotpedia. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
State supreme court judicial selection in Maryland
- See also: Judicial selection in Maryland
The seven judges of the Maryland Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. The Maryland Judicial Nominating Commission is responsible for screening candidates and submitting a shortlist to the governor. This commission consists of 17 members appointed by the governor and the Maryland State Bar Association. The governor must appoint a judge from the commission's shortlist and the appointee must then be confirmed by the Maryland State Senate.[10][11]
After serving for one year, judges must stand for retention in the next general election if they wish to remain on the court. If retained, a judge wins a full ten-year term.[10]
The court's name changed from the Maryland Court of Appeals to the Maryland Supreme Court, following a ballot initiative that voters approved in November 2022.[3]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. and state citizen;
- a registered state voter;
- a state resident for at least five years;
- a resident of the geographic area where the vacancy exists for at least six months;
- a state bar member;
- at least 30 years old; and
- under the age of 70 (retirement at 70 is mandatory).[10]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is designated by the governor to serve indefinite terms.[10]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a judge's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends qualified candidates to the governor and the governor selects a successor from that list. The new appointee serves for at least one year and then stands for retention at the next general election.[10]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
|
Officeholder Maryland Supreme Court 1st Circuit |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Office of Governor Larry Hogan, "Governor Larry Hogan Announces Judicial Appointments," March 12, 2019
- ↑ The Daily Record, "Senate confirms three judges to Md. appellate courts," March 22, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 CBS Baltimore, "The Court of Appeals of Maryland is now the Supreme Court of Maryland," December 14, 2022
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Booth, Booth, Cropper & Marriner, "Brynja McDivitt Booth," accessed March 27, 2019
- ↑ Maryland State Archives, "Brynja McDivitt Booth," accessed July 14, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maryland," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ Maryland Manual Online, APPELLATE COURTS JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION," February 28, 2020
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Maryland • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Maryland
State courts:
Maryland Supreme Court • Appellate Court of Maryland • Maryland District Courts • Maryland Circuit Courts • Maryland Orphans' Court
State resources:
Courts in Maryland • Maryland judicial elections • Judicial selection in Maryland
