Mission
To provide information about the majority required to convene a constitutional convention under Article XIV, Section 2 of Maryland’s Constitution and force the State of Maryland, via popular pressure and a lawsuit, to obey Maryland’s Constitution.
Overview
Marylanders for a State Constitutional Convention is a project of iSolon.org, an independent, non-partisan public policy institute. iSolon.org is committed to exploring and advancing opportunities for democratic reform where elected officials have a conflict of interest with the public in bringing about needed reforms. A constitutional convention is viewed as one mechanism that can overcome such conflicts of interest.
iSolon.org is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
J.H. Snider, Project Director
J. H. Snider is the president of iSolon.org and a fellow for the 2011-2012 academic year at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. He has previously been a fellow with the American Political Science Association, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the New America Foundation.Robert J. Martineau, Legal Advisor
Robert J. Martineau is Distinguished Research Professor of Law, Emeritus, University of Cincinnati. After serving as law clerk to the chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, he practiced law in Maryland, including as an assistant attorney general and vice-president of the Maryland State Bar Association. He wrote the attorney general’s opinion on the legality of calling the 1967-68 Maryland Constitutional Convention, was a member of the commission that prepared for the convention, and served as secretary of the Convention.
In addition to writing an article on the Convention, he is the author of The Mandatory Referendum on Calling a State Constitutional Convention: Enforcing the People’s Right to Reform Their Government, the authoritative law review article on the history and law of the self-executing periodic constitutional convention in U.S. state constitutions.
He is the author of eight books on appellate practice and procedure and drafting statutes and rules in Plain English. His next book on Plain English drafting will be published in late 2012.
In addition to teaching law, he has served as circuit executive of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, executive officer of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, member of the Rules Committee of the Ohio Supreme Court, acting dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, consultant to various court reform groups and the American Bar Association, and was an elected member of the American Law Institute.
The Maryland State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse 