[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 1, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE HONORABLE LOUIS A. BECKER'S EXTRAORDINARY WORK AS 
                                A JUDGE

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2014

  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise 
before you today to recognize the efforts of a truly significant 
individual in the judicial field. Not only is it a privilege to know 
Judge Louis A. Becker, but also to call Judge Becker a friend. Our 
lives had some remarkable commonalities. We both worked as a lifeguard 
in Ocean City, Maryland. We both played lacrosse during our school 
years and graduated from the University of Baltimore's Law School. 
Finally, we both worked for our Nation's Intelligence communities 
during our long careers in public service.
  The Honorable Louis A. Becker was appointed by Governor Ehrlich as an 
Associate Judge of the Circuit Court for Howard County in July 2005, 
after having been appointed by Governor Schaefer to the District Court 
of Maryland for Howard County in 1989. On occasion, he has been 
specially assigned to Maryland's 2nd highest appellate bench, the Court 
of Special Appeals. Thus, he has adjudicated thousands of bench and 
jury trials involving major felonies and complex civil cases and 
authored several appellate opinions.
  He is a graduate of Loyola University, B.S., Political Science, 1965 
and the University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., 1970. Having 
served on active duty and the Reserves from 1965 to 1994, he retired as 
a Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Intelligence.
  Prior to the bench he practiced law with emphasis in the areas of 
criminal law, real property, corporate, computer, and professional 
malpractice. He was formerly a member of the Board of Governors of the 
Maryland State Bar Association and served on its Ethics & Judicial 
Selection Committees, and Solo/Small Firm Practice Section Council. As 
Chair of the latter in 1999-2000, he received the American Bar 
Association Solo/Small Firm Bar Leader of the Year Award. He is a 
Fellow of the Maryland and Howard Bar Foundations. He is Past President 
of the Howard County Bar Association and he is currently serving a 
second term as President of the James Macgill American Inns of Court; 
an organization dedicated to promoting judicial and legal excellence. 
He served on the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission from 1975 to 
1980.
  Judge Becker has written and lectured on search and seizure law as 
well as lawyer and judicial ethics for the Maryland Judicial Institute, 
the New Trial Judges Orientation Course and the Maryland Institute for 
Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers (MICPEL). Having taught 
Professional Responsibility, he is currently teaching Trial Advocacy at 
the University of Baltimore Law School where he was awarded Adjunct 
Professor of the Year in 2003, and has been a member of the Dean's 
Advisory Council since 1994.
  As a judicial leader, he was the founder of the first Drug/DUI 
Treatment Court in Howard County. Over the years his community 
involvement has included service on the Board of Trustees of the Howard 
County Library, the Howard County Executive's Mental Health Services 
Restructuring Task Force and the County Youth Lacrosse Program.
  His wife of 46 years, Shawn, a Registered Nurse who holds a Master's 
Degree in Nursing Policy, is Senior Director of Patient Safety, US 
Pharmacopeia (USP). He has two grown sons; one of whom is a commercial 
banker and the other a construction project manager, and three 
grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, as you can see from this incredible list of 
accomplishments, Judge Louis A. Becker has had a distinguished career 
as an attorney and a judge for the State of Maryland. He has served our 
country with distinction. I ask that you join with me today to applaud 
the tremendous work he has done for our courts and our community as he 
enters retirement.

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