J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
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J. Joseph Curran Jr. (born July 7, 1931) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 44th
attorney general of Maryland The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qual ...
from 1987 to 2007. He served as the fourth
lieutenant governor of Maryland The lieutenant governor of Maryland is the second highest-ranking official in the executive branch of the Government of Maryland, state government of Maryland in the United States. The officeholder is elected on the same ticket as the governor of ...
from 1983 to 1987. Curran is the longest serving elected attorney general in Maryland history. His son-in-law, Martin J. O'Malley, served as the 61st
governor of Maryland The governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
from 2007 to 2015.


Background

Curran was born in
West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
, the son of Catherine Mary (Clark) and
Baltimore City Council The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The council holds regular meetings on alternate Monday ev ...
member J. Joseph Curran Sr. He attended Baltimore parochial schools. He graduated from Loyola High School and then from the
University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...
. He served in the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...
from 1951 to 1955. Curran returned to Baltimore and entered the
University of Baltimore School of Law 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 ...
where he earned a LL.B. in 1959. Curran was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1959 and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.


Career

A
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
, Curran previously served as the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1983 to 1987 under Governor
Harry Hughes Harry Roe Hughes (November 13, 1926 – March 13, 2019) was an American politician from the Democratic Party who served as the 57th Governor of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. Early life and family Hughes was born in Easton, Maryland, the ...
. Prior to that, Curran was a member of the
Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...
from 1959 to 1963 and the
Maryland 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 ...
from 1963 to 1983.


Attorney general

In 1986, Curran was elected attorney general after serving four years as lieutenant governor under
Harry Hughes Harry Roe Hughes (November 13, 1926 – March 13, 2019) was an American politician from the Democratic Party who served as the 57th Governor of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. Early life and family Hughes was born in Easton, Maryland, the ...
. In 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002, he won re-election. Citing his age and his long career, Curran decided not to seek re-election in 2006, preventing any conflict of interest that might arise in having O'Malley as governor and his father-in-law as attorney general.


Family

Curran is the brother of Martin "Mike" Curran and Robert W. Curran who both also served on the Baltimore City Council. Curran is married, with four living children, three daughters and one son. His wife, Barbara Curran is an esteemed painter. His youngest daughter,
Katie Katie is an English female name. It is a form of Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own. People Sports * Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player * Katie Clark (born 1994), ...
, was a state district court judge (2001–2021) and the wife of former
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the 17th commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was th ...
. His middle daughter, Alice, is the chief financial officer at
Miami Country Day School Miami Country Day School (MCDS) is a private, non-denominational, co-ed preschool-12 college preparatory school in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, near Miami Shores, just north of the city of Miami, Florida, United States. The school has been ...
, a private school in South Florida. His son, J. Joseph "Max" Curran, is a partner at the Venable law firm. His eldest daughter, Mary Carole Curran, is an accomplished photographer in Baltimore City. His first cousin was
Gerald Curran Gerald Curran (March 20, 1939 – March 27, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Curran received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Baltimore. He practiced law and was in the insurance ...
.


Awards and honors

AARP AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those 50 and older. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it had more than 38  ...
Maryland named its lifetime achievement award after Curran, which is presented to those "who have exhibited a lifetime of exemplary commitment to volunteerism and civic involvement".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, J. Joseph Jr. 1931 births Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Lawyers from Baltimore Lieutenant governors of Maryland Living people Maryland attorneys general Politicians from Baltimore University of Baltimore School of Law alumni 20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly 21st-century Maryland politicians