Norman R. Stone Jr. (September 8, 1935 – June 16, 2023) was an American politician and the longest-serving Senator in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-m ...

. He held the distinction of being the only Maryland State Senator to have voted against both repealing the ban on interracial marriage, and permitting same-sex marriage. Stone served in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis ...

from 1963 to 1967. He was first elected to the State Senate in 1966. Stone was a member of the Maryland General Assembly for more than 50 years. Stone was a graduate of the

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective school, selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B ...

High School and the

University of Baltimore Law School The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

Career

Legislative notes

*February 9, 1967 – voted against repeal of the law banning

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In ...

in Maryland. *February 23, 2012 – voted against the "

Civil Marriage Protection Act Same-sex marriage in Maryland has been legally recognized since January 1, 2013. In 2012, the state's Democratic representatives, led by Governor Martin O'Malley, began a campaign for its legalization. After much debate, a law permitting same-se ...

", which would allow

same-sex couple A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

s to obtain a marriage license in Maryland. (See

2012 Maryland Question 6 Question 6 (colloquially called the Maryland same-sex marriage referendum) is a referendum that appeared on the general election ballot for the U.S. state of Maryland to allow voters to approve or reject the Civil Marriage Protection Act—a bil ...

)

Task Force, Boards and Commissions

In June 2012, Stone was appointed by Maryland legislative leaders to a task force to study the impact of a

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The court, which is composed ...

ruling regarding the liability of owners of

pit bull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was ...

s and landlords that rent to them.

Death

Stone died at the

Anne Arundel Medical Center The Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) is a regional health system headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to the main campus in Annapolis, the group has outpatient pavilions in Bowie, Kent Island, Odenton, Easton and Waugh Chapel. ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

on June 16, 2023. He was 87.

References

1935 births 2023 deaths Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates University of Baltimore alumni Baltimore City College alumni Politicians from Baltimore 20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly {{Maryland-politician-stub