FBA Maryland Chapter Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlighting Maryland Supreme Court Justice Angela M. Eaves
On April 12, 2022, Judge Angela M. Eaves was sworn in to serve on the Supreme Court of Maryland in a ceremony officiated by former Governor Lawrence J. Hogan. On accepting the oath of office, Judge Eaves became the first Hispanic to serve on the high court of Maryland. The ceremony capped a trailblazing legal career dedicated to public service in which, along the way, Judge Eaves was routinely breaking new barriers as a “first.”
Judge Eaves was born on April 22, 1959, in the Canal Zone, Panama to a Panamanian mother and African American father. Judge Eaves’ father was a non-commissioned army officer whose military service provided Judge Eaves the opportunity to live in Germany, California, New York, New Jersey and Texas where she began her legal career after receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Texas Law School in 1986.
Following law school, Judge Eaves worked as an assistant city attorney for Dallas, Texas before relocating to Harford County, Maryland. Judge Eaves was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1990 and shortly thereafter was hired as a lawyer for the Legal Aid Bureau in Harford County. From 1993 until 2000, Judge Eaves was an assistant attorney general for Harford County where she was tasked with defending correctional officers and state officials in civil suits and took on child-support appeal cases for the Department of Human Resources. From 1995 to 1996, Judge Eaves served on the Harford County Charter Review Commission and from 1995 through 1997 she served as a member of the Human Relations Commission.
In 1995, Judge Eaves, in her role as assistant attorney general, was involved in a precedent making child-support appeal case, Natasha Wills v. Randy W. Jones, 340 Md. 480 (1995). The Wills case addressed child support obligations of imprisoned parents within the context of the child support guidelines governing “voluntary impoverishment.” The Supreme Court of Maryland concluded that a prisoner is only “voluntary impoverished” as a result of incarceration if the crime leading to incarceration was committed with the intention of becoming incarcerated or otherwise impoverished, but impoverishment should not result in termination of a child support obligation. Judge Eaves advocated that “no court can relieve a parent of the obligation to pay. Even if it is reduced to zero, the obligation is still there.”[1] The ruling effectively prevented incarcerated parents from asking courts to outright terminate their child support obligations.
In 1996, Judge Eaves was awarded the Office of Attorney General’s Pro Bono Award for her tireless work advocating for the legal rights of the less fortunate.
On March 27, 2000, Judge Eaves was appointed to serve as an Associate Judge on the District Court of Maryland, District 9, Harford County. This appointment made her the first African American appointed to the bench in Harford County. On December 28, 2007, Judge Eaves was elevated to the Circuit Court for Harford County. She served as an associate judge from December 28, 2007, to January 26, 2015. On January 26, 2015, Judge Eaves became the first woman administrative judge to head the Circuit Court for Harford County. Judge Eaves served in that capacity until March 23, 2022.
In addition to her service on the Supreme Court, Judge Eaves shares her knowledge and experience as a distinguished jurist through her work as an instructor for the Maryland Judicial College and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
[1] Brennan, Catherine, “High Court Rules Prisoners Can Seek Child Support Cut,” The Daily Record, 16 November 1995.