Michele D. Hotten

Michele Denise Hotten (born April 20, 1954) is a senior judge of the Supreme Court of Maryland appointed by Governor Larry Hogan.

Biography
The first in her immediate family to attend college, Hotten received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Florida in 1975 and her Juris Doctor from the Howard University School of Law in 1979.

Hotten served as a circuit court judge in Prince George's for 16 years and spent one year as a district court judge. She worked as an assistant state's attorney in Prince George's and served as deputy people's zoning counsel and as a hearing examiner for the county Board of Education. She also has worked in private practice.

She was previously a judge on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. She was appointed to that court by Governor Martin O'Malley on July 23, 2010, to fill the vacancy left by James Salmon.

Maryland Court of Appeals service
On December 1, 2015, Governor Larry Hogan appointed Hotten to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. She was sworn into office on December 22, 2015.

At the time of her appointment, she was the fifth woman on the seven-judge panel, which has the highest number of women the court has ever had. She also was the second African American woman appointed to the court, after Judge Shirley M. Watts, who was appointed prior to her.

Hotton became a senior judge in April 2024, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Personal life
Hotten grew up poor in Southeast Washington, raised by a single mother who often worked three jobs to make ends meet.