Robert M. Bell
Encyclopedia
Robert Mack Bell is an American lawyer and jurist from Baltimore
, Maryland. Since 1991 he has been a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals
, the highest court in Maryland, and its Chief Judge since 1996 and has been a judge at every level in the Maryland Courts system. He is also the State's first African American to serve as the Maryland Court of Appeals
' Chief Judge.
, his parents soon moved to Baltimore
, Maryland where he attended Dunbar High School
. On June 17, 1960 Bell had his first experiences with the judicial system. While still in high school, he and a group of students participated in a sit-in
protest at a segregated
restaurant. The group entered Hooper's Restaurant, located at Charles
and Fayette Streets, in downtown Baltimore
and waited to be served. They were asked to leave, but twelve of the students, including the sixteen-year-old Bell, refused. He and the other students were arrested, convicted in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City of criminal trespassing, and fined $10. The case was appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals
, where the students' representation included Juanita Jackson Mitchell
and Thurgood Marshall
. The appellants argued that the use of the state's trespassing laws to support segregation of public accommodations violated the Fourteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution
. In 1962, the Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the circuit court.
The case was then appealed to the U.S Supreme Court, where Bell was represented by Constance Baker Motley
and Jack Greenberg
. In the 1964 case of Bell v. Maryland
, the U.S. Supreme Court, noting that in the period since the conviction the Maryland General Assembly
had passed a public accommodations law, refused to rule whether the state's trespassing laws could be used to exclude blacks from public accommodations, but vacated
the decision and remanded the case to allow the state court to rule whether the conviction should be reversed due to the change in state law. On April 9, 1965, Bell's conviction was reversed by the state Court of Appeals and all of the students were cleared of all charges. Ironically, after the Supreme Court's decision, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations such as those provided in Hooper's Baltimore restaurant. It has been suggested that the Supreme Court refrained from reaching the merits in the case in consideration of this civil rights legislation, which was then pending in Congress, as had it done so it would have eliminated the basis for passing the Act.
Bell later attended and graduated with a B.A. in history from Morgan State University
in Baltimore in 1966 and while there became a brother in Alpha Phi Omega
. He then was admitted to Harvard Law School
where he earned his J.D.
in 1969. That same year he was admitted to the bar
and began his legal practice in Baltimore.
. Seven years later he was appointed to the state's highest court and became the chief justice in 1996. He was a member, Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1977 to 1982; Commission to Revise the Annotated Code of Maryland
, 1980–82; and the Board of Directors, Judicial Institute of Maryland, 1982–84. In August, 2006, Bell was named Chair of the National Center for State Courts’ Board of Directors. At the same time, Judge Bell also was named president of the Conference of Chief Justices.
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland. Since 1991 he has been a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals
Maryland Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...
, the highest court in Maryland, and its Chief Judge since 1996 and has been a judge at every level in the Maryland Courts system. He is also the State's first African American to serve as the Maryland Court of Appeals
Maryland Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...
' Chief Judge.
Background
Born in Rocky Mount, North CarolinaRocky Mount, North Carolina
Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...
, his parents soon moved to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland where he attended Dunbar High School
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Baltimore, Maryland)
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Baltimore, Maryland.-History:Dunbar opened in 1918 as the Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School, No. 101. It was named in memory of Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African-American poet, who had died ten years earlier...
. On June 17, 1960 Bell had his first experiences with the judicial system. While still in high school, he and a group of students participated in a sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
protest at a segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
restaurant. The group entered Hooper's Restaurant, located at Charles
Maryland Route 139
Maryland Route 139, known locally for most of its existence as North Charles Street, runs through Baltimore City and through the Towson area of Baltimore County. On the north end it terminates at a traffic circle with Bellona Avenue near Interstate 695 and at the south end it terminates in Federal...
and Fayette Streets, in downtown Baltimore
Downtown Baltimore
Downtown Baltimore is the section of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Mt. Royal Avenue to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the south. It consists of four neighborhoods: Westside, City Centre, Inner Harbor, and...
and waited to be served. They were asked to leave, but twelve of the students, including the sixteen-year-old Bell, refused. He and the other students were arrested, convicted in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City of criminal trespassing, and fined $10. The case was appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals
Maryland Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...
, where the students' representation included Juanita Jackson Mitchell
Juanita Jackson Mitchell
Juanita Jackson Mitchell was born on January 2, 1913 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was the first African American woman to practice law in Maryland. She was married to Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. and the mother of two Maryland State Senators and the grandmother of a third.-Background:The daughter of...
and Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
. The appellants argued that the use of the state's trespassing laws to support segregation of public accommodations violated the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. In 1962, the Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the circuit court.
The case was then appealed to the U.S Supreme Court, where Bell was represented by Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley was an African American civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, state senator, and President of Manhattan, New York City.-Early Life and Academics:...
and Jack Greenberg
Jack Greenberg (lawyer)
Jack Greenberg is an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall....
. In the 1964 case of Bell v. Maryland
Bell v. Maryland
Bell v. Maryland, 378 U.S. 226 , provided an opportunity for the Supreme Court of the United States to determine whether racial discrimination in the provision of public accommodations by a privately-owned restaurant violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment to the...
, the U.S. Supreme Court, noting that in the period since the conviction the Maryland General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
had passed a public accommodations law, refused to rule whether the state's trespassing laws could be used to exclude blacks from public accommodations, but vacated
Vacated judgment
A vacated judgment makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court....
the decision and remanded the case to allow the state court to rule whether the conviction should be reversed due to the change in state law. On April 9, 1965, Bell's conviction was reversed by the state Court of Appeals and all of the students were cleared of all charges. Ironically, after the Supreme Court's decision, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations such as those provided in Hooper's Baltimore restaurant. It has been suggested that the Supreme Court refrained from reaching the merits in the case in consideration of this civil rights legislation, which was then pending in Congress, as had it done so it would have eliminated the basis for passing the Act.
Bell later attended and graduated with a B.A. in history from Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
in Baltimore in 1966 and while there became a brother in Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members...
. He then was admitted to Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
where he earned his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1969. That same year he was admitted to the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
and began his legal practice in Baltimore.
Judicial career
In 1975 Bell was appointed to the District Court of Maryland, District 1, in Baltimore City and served there until 1980. He was an Associate Judge, Baltimore City Circuit Court, 8th Judicial Circuit, from 1980 to 1984 when he was appointed to the Maryland Court of Special AppealsMaryland Court of Special Appeals
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state of Maryland. The Court of Special Appeals was created in 1966 in response to the rapidly growing caseload in the Maryland Court of Appeals. Like the state's highest court, the tribunal meets in the Robert C...
. Seven years later he was appointed to the state's highest court and became the chief justice in 1996. He was a member, Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1977 to 1982; Commission to Revise the Annotated Code of Maryland
Annotated Code of Maryland
The Annotated Code of Maryland, published by The Michie Company, is the official codification of the statutory laws of Maryland. It is organized, by subject matter, in two sets of volumes...
, 1980–82; and the Board of Directors, Judicial Institute of Maryland, 1982–84. In August, 2006, Bell was named Chair of the National Center for State Courts’ Board of Directors. At the same time, Judge Bell also was named president of the Conference of Chief Justices.
Awards
Bell has also been the recipient of several awards:- American Bar Association D'Alemberte-Raven Award for Outstanding Leadership in Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Legal Excellence Award for Advancement of Public Service Responsibility from the Maryland Bar Foundation
- Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence Special Recognition Award
- Maryland Leadership in Law Award
- Maryland Legal Services Corporation Medal for Access to Justice.
Maryland Court of Appeals Judges by SeniorityCircuit Name 6 Chief Judge Robert M. Bell Robert M. BellRobert Mack Bell is an American lawyer and jurist from Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1991 he has been a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in Maryland, and its Chief Judge since 1996 and has been a judge at every level in the Maryland Courts system...4 Judge Glenn T. Harrell, Jr. Glenn T. Harrell, Jr.Glenn T. Harrell, Jr. is an American lawyer and jurist from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Since 1999 he has served as a judge in the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state....3 Judge Lynne A. Battaglia Lynne A. BattagliaLynne Ann Battaglia is an American lawyer and jurist from Howard County, Maryland. Battaglia was born in Silver Creek, New York. She earned a J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1974 and was admitted to the bar that same year...5 Judge Clayton Greene, Jr. Clayton Greene, Jr.Clayton Greene, Jr. is an American lawyer and jurist from Annapolis, Maryland. Since January 22, 2004 he has been a judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's supreme court. He was appointed by Governor Robert Ehrlich....2 Judge Joseph F. Murphy, Jr. Joseph F. Murphy, Jr.Joseph F. Murphy, Jr. is an American lawyer and jurist from Baltimore, Maryland. Between December 17, 2007, and September 30, 2011, he was a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in Maryland...1 Judge Sally D. Adkins 7 Judge Mary Ellen Barbera
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