Robin Ficker

Robin Ficker
House of Delegates, 1979-82
Born	(1943-04-05) April 5, 1943
Residence	Boyds, Maryland
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Baltimore School of Law
Occupation	Attorney, real estate broker
Known for	Interesting law cases, political activism, sports heckling
Political party	Republican
Children	Desiree Ficker, Rob Ficker, Flynn Ficker

Robin Ficker (born April 5, 1943) is an American attorney, real estate broker, political activist, and sports heckler who lives in Boyds, Maryland.

Education and professional career

Ficker attended the United States Military Academy for five semesters. He received a B.S. in electrical and mechanical engineering from Case Institute of Technology.^[1] Ficker attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Ficker also received an M.A. in public administration from American University in 1969.^[1]

Ficker won two landmark injunctions preventing the state of Maryland from denying access to serious traffic and criminal court records. In 1992 U.S. District Court Judge Nickerson granted Ficker an injunction against provisions of the Maryland Public Information Act that denied access to police reports, criminal charging documents, and traffic citations in the Maryland Automated Traffic System. A 2003 Attorneys General opinion said the 1992 "Ficker order is still in effect and enforceable." In 1997, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Ficker successfully challenged the constitutionality of a Maryland law forbidding lawyers from targeted direct-mail solicitation of criminal and traffic defendants within thirty days of arrest.

He has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1973.^[2] His first case went to the Supreme Court of the United States seeking to end the National Football League's blackout of sold out home football games.^[3] In 1973 Ficker, representing Deborah Drudge, gained a consent judgment signed by Federal District Court Judge Roszel C. Thomsen, forbidding evaluations based on facial features and physique, for positions in the office of the Montgomery County Attorney. The judgment said no future applicant could be asked any questions regarding marital status or child care arrangements. On January 6, 1986, U. S. District Court Judge Norman Ramsey, ordered, in a suit brought by Robin Ficker against the Montgomery County Board of Elections, that Md. Election Code Art. 33, S 23-5(4) limiting the payment of money to petition circulators for initiative measures be declared null and void under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Ficker continued his trial successes in 2013 when he represented a Hyattsville, MD man who was found not guilty by a jury of all 23 counts in a case of attempted murder, armed robbery, carjacking, assault and eluding police among other charges.^[4]

In 1990, Ficker was publicly reprimanded by the Maryland Court of Appeals upon a finding that he had violated ethical rules prohibiting neglect, engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and lack of diligence. In March, 1998, he was indefinitely suspended from the practice of law, with the right to reapply for admission after 120 days, arising from violations related to competence, diligence, fairness to opposing counsel and parties, supervising lawyers and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. In August, 1998, he was privately reprimanded by the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission for a violation related to competence. In January, 2002, he was privately reprimanded by the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission for a violation related to client communications. Ficker was again indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in 2007. A dissenting judge in the latest suspension commented, "If disbarment is not warranted in this case for these types of issues, with a respondent with this history, it will never be warranted." Ficker's law license was reinstated on December 8, 2008. Ficker became a real estate broker with his own company, Robin Realty, in 2008.^[5]

School case victories

In 2013, Ficker received widespread attention for securing school suspension reversals and disciplinary record expungement for children, ages 5- to 7-years old. A 6-year-old in Maryland had been charged with threatening "to shoot a student" for pointing his finger and saying "pow".^[6] A Pennsylvania 5-year-old was said to be making a "terroristic threat" by talking about a Hello Kitty bubble-blowing gun.^[7] A Virginia 6-year-old had been suspended for pointing his finger at another student who pretended to shoot him with a bow and arrow after their class had studied Native American culture.^[8][9] A 5-year-old Southern Maryland child had been suspended for 10 days for bringing a cap gun on to a school bus to show a friend.^[10] Still pending in Maryland is the matter of a suspended 7-year-old who chewed a toaster pastry into the shape of a gun.^[11]

Political career

Ficker has run for various state and local offices since the 1970s. In 1972, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland's 8th congressional district, blanketing Montgomery County with "Our Friend Ficker" campaign signs on utility poles, trees and traffic lights, which resulted in county officials seeking an injunction to stop the placement of these signs on public property.^[12][13][14] He lost the Democratic race to Joseph G. Anastasi, who lost to incumbent Republican Gilbert Gude. He was elected in 1978 to the Maryland House of Delegates as a Republican, representing Montgomery County from 1979 to 1983.

He ran for U.S. Senate in 2000, claiming to have shaken hands with more than 560,000 people before officially announcing his candidacy.^[15] Ficker ran for Montgomery County Executive in 2006 receiving 28,063 votes, more than any other independent candidate in county history, with under 10% of the vote.^[16] In 2009, Ficker moved from his primary residence in Boyds to his childhood home in Colesville to run for County Council in District 4 where he won a three-way Republican primary with 58% of the vote.^[17] He lost to Democrat Nancy Navarro 61% to 35%.^[18]

In November 2010, running as a Republican for Montgomery County Council District 2, Ficker received the highest percentage of the vote of any Republican candidate for local or state office but lost to State Delegate Craig L. Rice (D-Dist. 15), of Germantown 59% to 40%.^[19]

Ficker was a candidate in the 2012 Republican primary for the newly redistricted Maryland's 6th congressional district seat held by 10-term incumbent Roscoe Bartlett,^[20] finishing fifth in an eight-candidate field.^[21]

Ficker was unopposed for the 2014 Republican nomination for the District 15 State Senate seat in western Montgomery County.^[22] Running with his son, Flynn Ficker, on a candidate slate for the Maryland Senate and House, the Fickers in May reported visiting 20,000 homes and expected to double that before the November 4 general election.^[23] Ficker lost the District 15 State Senate election to Democrat Brian J. Feldman, who won 60.4% of the vote to Ficker's 39.5%.^[24] (His son also lost.^[25])

In 2016, Ficker was again a candidate in the Republican primary for Maryland's 6th congressional district, finishing fourth in an eight-candidate field.^[26][27]

In the fall of 2015, Ficker began campaigning for a ballot measure in the 2016 general election to place term limits on the Montgomery County Executive and Montgomery County Council members.^[28][29]

Ballot initiatives and legal challenges

Since 1974, Ficker has become known for promoting a series of ballot initiatives. The issues range from term limits, curbing tax increases, to limiting budget waste and duplication.^[30] He collected as many as 15,000 signatures for each of 20 initiatives, that together received 2 million votes.^[31][32]

A county initiative he proposed for the November 2008 ballot received 194,151 votes, prevailing by 5,060 votes.^[33] The measure requires the nine-member Montgomery County Council to vote unanimously to raise property tax revenue above the local limit.^[34] The victory earned him the Libertarian Party's Free Market Hero of the week award.^[35]

In October 2009, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Ficker convinced parks officials in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties to rescind enforcement of a rule requiring a permit before a person could carry signs or solicit signatures in county parks.^[36]

Sports heckler

Ficker is known for his "passionate" support of the NBA's Washington Bullets. For many years, he heckled the opposing team at the games. Ficker had seats at USAir Arena immediately behind the visiting bench. When the team moved to the MCI Center, they took the opportunity to reseat Ficker well away from the court. He gave up his seats in response.^[37] Not having been to a NBA game since in April 1998,^[38] Ficker attended Game 4 of the Wizards-Pacers Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 11, 2014.^[39]

Though many players from opposing teams were aware of Ficker,^[40] Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley in particular thought so much of him that he flew him out to Phoenix during the 1993 NBA Finals. Barkley bought Ficker a ticket directly behind the bench of the visiting Chicago Bulls with the intent that Ficker's taunts would distract the Bulls players. Ficker did not last the first quarter before being removed by America West Arena security.^[41]

In 2012 Ficker appeared on CBS's The Jeff Probst Show in which he was playfully surprised by special guest Isiah Thomas, former professional basketball player, and Basketball Hall of Fame athlete. Probst shares that Thomas, in agreeing to appear on the show said, "Ficker was one of the greats".^[42] In 2013 Ficker was featured on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann in which his heckling was discussed along with the often acrimonious fan vs. player interactions that would result.^[43]

The University of Maryland wrestling team won Ficker's support in 2010^[44] with his letter to The Washington Post criticizing the lack of coverage for the Terrapin team^[45] and his attendance at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina as well as the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.^[46] His vocal ^[47] and visible support remains ongoing as of 2015.^[48]

Family

Ficker has a daughter and two sons. Ficker's daughter, Desiree Ficker, is a top female professional triathlete, finishing second at the 2006 Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.^[49] Ficker's 20-year marriage to the late Dr. Frances Annette Ficker ended in divorce.^[50]

Traffic incident

In 1996, Ficker was acquitted of destruction of property in a 1995 traffic incident and saw battery charges dropped by the State's Attorney after a jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal. Ficker had been convicted in a non-jury District Court trial but appealed for a Circuit Court jury trial.^[51][52] In the traffic incident the driver of the car Ficker hit reported that he struck her in the face, breaking her glasses.^[53]

2015 Washington, D.C., mass killing

When ex-convict Daron Dylon Wint was arrested and charged in the deaths of three family members and their housekeeper, in which a ten-year-old child was tortured in order to extract money from the child's father, Ficker said Wint didn't seem violent when he defended him in earlier cases. "My impression of him — I remember him rather well — is that he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a very nice person", Ficker said.^[54]

Ficker characterized Wint as "kind and gentle", and added that authorities have arrested "the wrong guy" in the murder case, claiming, "They've made a big mistake here."^[55]

See also

• Maryland County Executive Election, 2006

References