Page 12 - University of Baltimore Law - Fall 2019

By Christianna McCausland
Public Service in a Cynical Age
Alumni Bring Optimism and Integrity to Government
It’s a convenient quip: “You’d have to be brain damaged to run for public office.” But Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, J.D. ’70, comes by it rightly. While working as an assistant state’s attorney in Baltimore County, Ruppersberger was in a head-on collision. The accident would likely have been fatal if not for the efforts of doctors at the then-nascent University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
“When I made it, I went to Dr. Cowley, who had started this system that saved my life, and I asked him what I could do to help,” says the Democratic Congressman representing Maryland’s 2nd District. “He said: ‘Run for office.’”
Thus began a career in public service that spans 34 years. Ruppersberger, 73, is serving his ninth term in the United States House of Representatives and has served on the Baltimore County Council — twice as chairman — and also as Baltimore County Executive. Ruppersberger was the first Democratic freshman ever appointed to the House Intelligence Committee, where he spent a record 12 years, and he’s currently on the House Appropriations Committee.
It’s a long run in a tough business. The idea that anyone wanting to go into politics needs his head examined isn’t far-fetched, especially in the current climate of ideological division, name-calling and trolling. Yet Ruppersberger and other UB Law alumni in public service careers describe the political forum as a place not just to survive, but where they can thrive. Theirs are stories of impactful change grounded in the legal skills and resilience many credit to their law school education.
Ruppersberger describes UB at the time as “the practical school,” a place where he could attend night classes while working during the day.
“We were the last of the night school warriors and it wasn’t easy,” remembers Ruppersberger’s classmate, retired judge Louis Becker, J.D. ’70.
Becker describes Ruppersberger as sociable but also persistent, recalling a story from their post-graduation days working as clerks in Towson. Ruppersberger worked for Kenneth C. Proctor, a judge with a reputation for being hard-nosed. Becker states it was common for clerks to be assigned menial tasks; one of Ruppersberger’s was getting Proctor’s dry cleaning every Monday. That errand got complicated when Ruppersberger, an avid athlete, broke his leg in a Sunday club lacrosse game.
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PHOTO BY RICH RIGGINS