Maryland’s government has three parts: the Executive branch, which includes the Governor; our state representatives and senators, which make up the Legislative branch; and our court system, which is called the Judiciary, or Judicial branch.

The court system does a lot of important work, like:

• Deciding what laws mean (but not writing new laws); 
• Punishing criminals by sending them to jail or making them pay for what they did to hurt somebody; and 
• Helping people who have problems, like moms and dads who need a divorce. 

THE CHIEF JUDGE

The head of our court system is Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, who is the first African-American Chief Judge ever in the history of Maryland. When he was in high school in the 1960s, Chief Judge Bell risked going to jail by sitting at an all-white lunch counter. He was arrested and had to go to court. He and his friends won their case and helped to win civil rights for everyone.

 

LEVELS OF COURTS

Maryland has four levels of courts. The lowest level is the District Court, which handles minor cases, like speeding tickets. 

Next, there is the Circuit Court level. These kinds of courts are called "circuit courts" because a long time ago, judges would go from town to town on horseback to hear cases. This was known as "riding the circuit." Today, juries help the judge to decide what is fair in this court.
 
 
 

Appeals If your mom gets a traffic ticket and goes to court, and is not happy with what the judge says, she can "appeal" it to a higher court. That court looks at what happened all over again, and decides if the first judge’s answer was right. (This is sort of like going to your dad if your mom gives you a punishment you don’t think was fair.) There are two appeals courts. The lowest level is called the Court of Special Appeals. This court hears most of the "appealed" cases.

The highest level is the Court of Appeals. Chief Judge Bell and six other judges are on this court. They usually get to pick what appealed cases they will hear. Court of Appeals judges wear red robes, like the judges did in colonial times.
 

NOW, HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THE COURTS?
Objective: answer 10 questions correctly.