Politics & Government

McDonough Wants Judge To Withdraw from Illegal Immigrant Tuition Case

Judge Ronald Silkworth presided over similar 2010 case that was overturned.

Del. Pat McDonough Thursday called on an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge to recuse himself from a hearing involving an effort to place a law on the 2012 ballot granting in-state tuition to some illegal immigrants.

McDonough, a Middle River Republican, issued a statement Thursday calling for Judge Ronald Silkworth to withdraw from the case because of his that was ultimately overturned by the state Court of Appeals.

Casa de Maryland Aug. 1 seeking to stop the issue from being placed on the 2012 ballot. The group claims the referendum is not permitted under state law because it's an appropriations issue rather than one of public policy.

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The language is similar to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Cordish Cos. seeking to prevent an anti-slots group from placing the location of a slots emporium at Arundel Mills on the ballot that year.

Silkworth ruled in favor of the developer. The Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, .

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“It would appear obvious that this judge needs to recuse himself from this case and the people are expecting the Attorney General to move swiftly toward that result”, said McDonough, in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

The delegate, in his statement, said he planned to ask the Court of Appeals to immediately file a written opinion on the case. The court issued an order placing the Arundel Mills slots referendum on the ballot on July 20, 2010 but said it would file a full written opinion later.

McDonough wasn't immediately available for comment. He is planning a news conference tomorrow afternoon in Essex.

Kim Propeak, political director of CASA de Maryland, said the organizaation's legal challenge is an important part of the process.

“Such stewards of democracy as Justice Scalia agree that the capacity to challenge the decisions of elections boards through efforts such as our litigation are vital to the maintenance of our system of checks and balances,” Propeack wrote in an emailed statement. “Frankly, if he was comfortable with the legal sufficiency of the effort to collect the signatures, he would not be illustrating fear of the legal process.”


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