Citations
- 391 F. Supp. 733
Full opinion text
NORTHROP, Chief District Judge.
Plaintiff, Margaret Elizabeth Taggart, a legal permanent resident alien, instituted this action seeking a declaratory judgment that Md.Ann.Code art. 68, § 1(b) (1970) is unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment insofar as it requires applicants for appointment to the State constitutional office of Notary Public to be citizens of the United States. She has further requested that this Court permanently enjoin defendants from further enforcing that statutory requirement. The defendants are the Governor of the State of Maryland, who has, among the other powers of his office, the power to appoint and remove notaries public, Md.Ann.Code art. 68, §§ 1(a) and 2, and the Secretary of the State of Maryland, who is responsible for the preparation of application forms for appointment as a notary public, and who is the person with whom such applications are filed and is responsible for giving the applicant notice of any action taken thereon. Md.Ann. Code art. 68, § 1(e) and (g).
Plaintiff’s action is alleged to arise under the first, fifth and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution and under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and (4), and it has the power to issue the requested declaratory judgment under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202. Upon a finding by the single District Court Judge to whom this case was originally assigned that the constitutional question presented was not insubstantial, a three-judge District Court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281, and a hearing held. Inasmuch as there are no disputed facts, the case is now before this Court for its decision on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.
THE FACTS
Section 45 of Article IV of the Maryland Constitution provides for the appointment of notaries public “in the manner, for the purpose, and with the powers” prescribed by law. That section is implemented by the provisions of Md.Ann.Code art. 68 (1970), entitled “Notaries Public.” Pursuant thereto, notaries public in Maryland are empowered to administer oaths in all matters of a civil nature and to certify that fact under a notarial seal as sufficient evidence of having administered such oath, Md.Ann.Code art. 68, § 3 (Cum. Supp.1974), to receive proof or acknowledgment of all instruments of writing relating to commerce or navigation and such other writings as have been usually proved and acknowledged before notaries public, and to make protests and declarations respecting negotiable instruments and testify the truth thereof under seal concerning all matters done by virtue of his office. Md.Ann.Code art. 68, § 4 (1970). In Moser v. Howard County Board, 235 Md. 279, 201 A.2d 365 (1964), the Maryland Court of Appeals held that the office of notary public in Maryland was a public office for profit, and while noting that the duties of the office were more limited in common law countries than in civil law countries, the Court nonetheless stated that they were “important and essential.” Id., 235 Md. at 282, 201 A.2d at 367.
Notaries public in Maryland are appointed by the Governor upon application endorsed by the State Senator representing the district in which the applicant resides. Md.Ann.Code art. 68, § 1 (a). Such appointments are generally for a term of four years and they may be renewed from term to term. Md. Ann.Code art. 68 § 1(d) an