Governor Hogan signed a proclamation on December 14th, officially changing the name of a 246-year-old institution.
In a press release last week from the Maryland Courts, the voter-approved measure to change the name of Maryland’s two highest courts has officially been enacted.
From the release:
Effective immediately, the Court of Appeals of Maryland is now the Supreme Court of Maryland, and the Court of Special Appeals is now the Appellate Court of Maryland.
Established by the Maryland Constitution of 1776, the Court of Appeals has remained the appellate court of last resort for the past 246 years. Under the recently passed constitutional amendment, the jurisdiction and function of the Court will remain the same and the 7 judges will now be known as justices of the Supreme Court of Maryland.
The Court of Special Appeals was created in 1966 by constitutional amendment as Maryland’s intermediate appellate court. Originally, five judges served on the court and currently 15 judges sit on the renamed Appellate Court of Maryland.
Chief Judge E. Gregory Wells, Appellate Court of Maryland added, “This is a welcome and much-needed change. It should be noted, however, the precedents, rules, and all other practices of the court are unaffected by the renaming, and we will continue business as usual at the highest level of service.”
