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Michele D. Hotten
Michele D. Hotten was a judge for the 4th Circuit of the Maryland Supreme Court. She assumed office on December 22, 2015. She left office on April 21, 2024.
Hotten became a member of the court through gubernatorial appointment. She was appointed on December 1, 2015, by Republican Governor Larry Hogan and sworn in on December 22, filling the seat left vacant when Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. reached Maryland's mandatory judicial retirement age of 70 in June 2015.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] Hotten received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Hotten retired on April 21, 2024 from the Maryland Supreme Court after reaching the mandatory retirement age prescribed by the State of Maryland’s Constitution. [5] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Biography
Hotten received her B.A. in political science from the University of South Florida in 1975 and her J.D. from the Howard University School of Law in 1979. She served as deputy people's zoning counsel for Prince George's County. Before that, she was a hearing examiner for the Prince George's County Board of Education. Hotten spent a year as a judge on the Fifth District Court before joining the Seventh Circuit Court.[6]
Hotten was appointed to Maryland Court of Special Appeals, later renamed the Appellate Court of Maryland, Maryland's intermediate appellate court, by Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley on July 23, 2010, to fill the vacancy left by James Salmon.[7] She was appointed to the Maryland Court of Appeals on December 1, 2015, by Republican Governor Larry Hogan and sworn in on December 22. Hotten filled the seat left vacant when Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. retired from the court after reaching Maryland's mandatory retirement age. Hotten is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and the Maryland State Bar Association, and was awarded the Gertrude E. Rush Award by the National Bar Association in 2014.
Elections
2016
Judge Hotten filed to stand for retention by voters in 2016.[8]
Election results
November 8 general election
Michele D. Hotten was retained in the Maryland Court of Appeals, Hotten's Seat election with 87.18% of the vote.
| Maryland Court of Appeals, Hotten's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
 Michele D. Hotten | 87.18% | |
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections | ||
2012 election
- See also: Maryland judicial elections, 2012
Hotten stood for retention to the court in 2012 and was retained.[9][10][11]
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.[12]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[13]
- 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.
Michele
Hotten
Maryland
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Hotten donated $564 to Democratic candidates and organizations. She 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 15 judges of the Appellate Court of Maryland 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.[14][15]
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.[14]
The court's name changed from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland, following a ballot initiative that voters approved in November 2022.[2]
Qualifications
To join either of these courts, 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).[14]
Chief judge
The chief judge of the court is designated by the governor to serve indefinite terms.[14]
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. If retained, a judge wins a full term of ten years.[14]
Salary
In 2024, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $213,633, according to the National Center for State Courts.[16]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Steve Lash, The Daily Record, "Hotten appointed to Court of Appeals," December 1, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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.
- ↑ The Daily Record, "Retiring from MD Supreme Court, Hotten cited for empathy and as a trailblazer," April 18, 2024
- ↑ The Washington Post, "O'Malley swears in new appeals judge," August 17, 2010
- ↑ Maryland Manual On-line, "Michele D. Hotten," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ The State Board of Elections, "2016 Presidential General Election State Candidates List," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "General Election Candidates List, Judge for Court of Special Appeals," accessed July 13, 2021
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "General Election Results, Court of Special Appeals," accessed July 13, 2021
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results," accessed December 1, 2012
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 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
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "2024 Salaries and Rankings," accessed October 7, 2024
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
