Jan 2, 2008 4:44 pm US/Eastern
House Clerk Deposed In Special Session Lawsuit
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
The chief clerk of the House of Delegates was questioned for about four hours during a deposition Wednesday relating to a legal case brought by Republicans who are seeking to overturn laws passed in Maryland's special session.
The deposition was taken in Annapolis after more than a week of legal wrangling over whether Mary Monahan should be required to answer questions in the case.
The attorney general's office argued in the Court of Special Appeals and the Court of Appeals that Monahan should not have to submit to the deposition, saying her testimony wasn't germane to the laws passed during the session. But neither court intervened to stop the deposition.
A transcript of the deposition was not immediately available.
Republicans are contending that a constitutional provision preventing one chamber of the General Assembly from adjourning for more than three days during a legislative session without permission of the other chamber was violated. As a result, they say all laws passed during the session, including more than $1.3 billion in tax increases, should be nullified.
The attorney general's office has maintained that the case has no merit. Democrats have described it as a frivolous attempt to undermine the legislative process by Republicans opposed to the tax increases and other laws passed during the session.
Irwin Kramer, an attorney representing the GOP, has wanted to question Monahan because she records House proceedings.
After the deposition Wednesday, Kramer repeated his belief that a document was fabricated to indicate consent from the House for the Senate's absence, after legislative leaders failed to take necessary steps in the legislative process required by the state's constitution.
"We're beyond technicalities in this case," Kramer said.
"Now, we're talking about a gross disregard not only for the constitution, but for commonsense rules of ethics that we expect our legislators and those who work with them to uphold."
Carroll County Circuit Judge Thomas Stansfield has scheduled a hearing on the case for Friday in Westminster. The judge postponed a previous hearing last month after Kramer told him that he had been unable to take the deposition with Monahan.
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