Dan Friedman
MD · Judge, Appellate Court of Maryland, At Large
Judge on the Appellate Court of Maryland, formerly the Court of Special Appeals, since 2014. A University of Maryland law graduate and author of a reference guide to the Maryland Constitution, he previously served as an assistant attorney general and counsel to the General Assembly.
Where Dan Friedman stands, based on their records
Opposes
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties (1 record)
Track record
Track record — Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties · 1 oppose
Wrote the court's opinion in Colbert v. State, upholding a Maryland law that allows police to test a driver's breath for alcohol without a warrant after a crash causing death or life-threatening injury.
July 28, 2016Opposes Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Source: mdcourts.gov
Track record — General
General · 18 records
Served as an assistant attorney general and counsel to the General Assembly from 2008 to 2014, advising legislators on whether bills were constitutional. He also wrote The Maryland State Constitution: A Reference Guide.
September 10, 2026
Source: msa.maryland.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Moore v. Maryland Hemp Coalition, lifting a court order that had blocked enforcement of the 2023 Cannabis Reform Act against existing sellers of hemp-derived intoxicating products. The court found the sellers unlikely to prove the law created an illegal monopoly.
September 9, 2025
Source: mdcourts.gov
The Court of Appeals reversed the Court of Special Appeals decision in Gambrill v. Board of Education of Dorchester County (No. 886, September Term 2019), which he wrote, holding that the federal Coverdell Act does not override Maryland law letting families sue school employees for negligence.
August 26, 2022
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Woodlin v. State, upholding a Wicomico County conviction in which the jury heard evidence of the defendant's earlier sexual assault under Maryland's 2018 repeat sexual predator law.
May 31, 2022
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Gambrill v. Dorchester County Board of Education, ruling against parents who sued school staff after their daughter was attacked by classmates, partly because a federal teacher-protection law barred the suit.
September 7, 2021
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion holding that Havre de Grace was not bound by a developer's infrastructure repayment deal that the City Council approved but the mayor never signed.
May 1, 2020
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in In re R.S., holding that the interstate foster care compact does not apply when a juvenile court places a child with a parent in another state, and voiding a rule that said otherwise.
August 28, 2019
Source: mdcourts.gov
The Court of Appeals reversed, 4-3, the Court of Special Appeals decision in State v. Thomas (No. 1115, September Term 2016), which he wrote, and reinstated the heroin seller's manslaughter conviction.
June 24, 2019
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Thomas v. State, overturning a Worcester County heroin seller's manslaughter conviction for a buyer's overdose death because the evidence did not show the sale caused the death.
April 4, 2018
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion overturning the Allegany County zoning board's denial of setback variances for a 17-turbine wind farm on Dan's Mountain, and sent the case back for a new decision under the correct test.
April 3, 2018
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Murray v. Midland Funding, reviving a consumer's lawsuit seeking to void a court judgment won by a debt buyer that allegedly lacked a state collection license.
June 29, 2017
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Choudry v. State, throwing out a conviction for sexual solicitation of a minor because no child, or officer posing as a child, was involved.
February 3, 2017
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in Torbit v. Baltimore City Police Department, upholding rulings for the police department and four officers in a suit over a 2011 nightclub shooting in which two people died.
February 2, 2017
Source: mdcourts.gov
Was retained in office by Maryland voters on November 8, 2016, with 82.1 percent voting yes (1,850,236 votes) for his continuance on the Court of Special Appeals.
November 8, 2016
Source: elections.maryland.gov
Wrote the court's opinion upholding Richmond Phillips's Prince George's County murder convictions and the trial court's decision to admit DNA evidence against him.
October 27, 2015
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in In re Dany G., ruling that a Montgomery County judge used the wrong standard when refusing findings a Guatemalan child needed to seek special immigrant juvenile status.
July 6, 2015
Source: mdcourts.gov
Wrote the court's opinion in White v. Kennedy Krieger Institute, upholding a jury verdict for the institute in a suit by a man exposed to lead as a toddler during its lead-reduction study.
February 26, 2015
Source: mdcourts.gov
Was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to an at-large seat on the Court of Special Appeals (now the Appellate Court of Maryland), announced August 26, 2014. He had served as an assistant attorney general and counsel to the General Assembly since 2008.
August 26, 2014
Source: mdappblog.com
Track record — Impartiality
Impartiality · 1 favorable
Wrote the court's opinion holding that an administrative law judge wrongly relied on outdated stereotypes about abused children when clearing a man accused of child sexual abuse in Prince George's County.
February 25, 2022Favorable on Impartiality
Source: mdcourts.gov
Past race Dan Friedman ran in:
- Retention of Judge Dan Friedman, Appellate Court of Maryland At Large (For Continuance in Office) · November 3, 2026 · Maryland · incumbent