First, the technicalities:
Maryland does not have a “bar card”, per se; it has a card sponsored by the Bar Association (which is a voluntary association), that is supposed to identify one as an attorney at the security check and allow you to pass through. (And everyone is allowed to bring in cell phones these days).
My card expired and I haven’t gotten a new one because it’s a pain in the ass - needs a photo, one trip to the sheriffs office and another to go pick up. Plus, I have a few other, better things to do. So, when I show up all dressed like I’m a lawyer (which I am), but without a card, I will get shit for not having one. Why? Because it means more work - and I mean that in the most trivial sense - for the deputies at the desk. Rather than waive me through as an attorney, they must now do one of two things: first, they can scan me just like they do everyone else, which adds 45 seconds of work, tops, to their day, OR they can exercise some discretion and say “aw, go ahead through” without the scan. The second option puts them at some risk, I suppose, should I suddenly lose my shit and start tearing up the place. I really can’t understand, otherwise, why I routinely get abuse for not having “the card”. This typically only happens in courthouses to which I don’t routinely go - at those that I frequent, they just say “hello” and waive me on through without checking shit.
Now, on to the peculiars of Harford County:
I lived, and occasionally practiced, there for over a decade. It was one of the more rural counties in MD, but has rapidly become suburbanized over the last 10 years. It’s a place where folks of the paler ilk seem to move to get away from “the element”. It’s getting slightly more progressive as more folks buy up farmland and build McMansions, but there’s still a strong undercurrent of the farmers and flee-ers there. The courthouse is in Bel Air, the county seat, which is the most progressive part of the county. And not by much.
The Sheriff’s office is an actual police force in Harford County (which cannot be said for Sheriff’s offices in other MD counties). They actually patrol, investigate, and arrest like a typical police force, and they cover the whole county, which encompasses everything from million-dollar, waterfront homes in Havre de Grace to less savory areas in the south and the farmland in between. It’s a pretty big county as far as MD counties go. That said, the guys at the door and in the courtrooms are not your average deputy - they are assigned to courthouse duty, never rotate out, and are often - very, very often - either close to or apparently even beyond retirement age.
I have never had a problem with these guys (other than the “where’s your card?” crap), and I cannot say I’ve run into one who was particularly rude or obnoxious. They are usually nice guys. But, then, I’m white.
I’m appalled and incensed this happened. I wish I could also say I’m surprised. Unfortunately, these days, very little racist bullshit surprises me.
