Former Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs died on Jan. 12 at his home at the Roland Park Place retirement community in North Baltimore. He was 87 and reportedly in declining health in recent weeks.
“I’m deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former Maryland Attorney General Stephen Sachs,” Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot posted on Facebook. “As a son of Baltimore, Stephen was a fixture in Maryland politics for decades, and dedicated his career to serving the state that he loved. My heart is with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Wrote Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.): “Steve Sachs did all he could to make the world a better place. I respected his legal passion that I know he shared with a generation of Maryland attorneys as a mentor and friend. Rest In Power.”
A Baltimore native who grew up in the Forest Park neighborhood and won a Fulbright Scholarship to Oxford University, Sachs served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland from 1961 to 1964. He was appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland in 1967 and served in that role for three years under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. Among his most famous cases was the prosecution of the “Catonsville Nine” Vietnam War activists in 1968.
Sachs — who received his law degree from Yale Law School and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1960 — returned to private practice, but in 1978 was elected the 40th attorney general of Maryland and reelected in 1982. Sachs made national headlines while serving in that capacity during Maryland’s savings and loan crisis in the 1980s.
Four years later, Sachs ran in Maryland’s gubernatorial race but lost the Democratic nomination to former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who won the general election.
“I feel part of a tradition that sees public office as an opportunity to serve,” Sachs told the Washington Post in 1986.
From 1987 until his retirement in 1999, Sachs was a partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Among his most publicized cases was the international; child custody battle involving Dr. Elizabeth Morgan in 1989 and 1990.
Sachs also taught criminal procedure and trial practice at the University of Maryland Law School from 1969 to 1976. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957.
In 2008, Gov. Martin O’Malley appointed Sachs the head of an independent review of Maryland State Police’s infiltration into activist groups.
“I was privileged to call him a friend, a confidante and mentor,” wrote Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh of Sachs. “I consider him one of the greatest attorneys general of Maryland. He did not shy away from taking on difficult challenges. Among his many groundbreaking accomplishments, he refused early in his first term to defend the state practice of warehousing developmentally-challenged and mentally ill individuals, leading to their release from state custody. He was a champion of civil rights and a leader of election reform. He was a superbly talented lawyer that could hold his own, whether arguing before the Supreme Court or in front of a jury.”
Added Frosh: “Steve was a great storyteller, possessed a great sense of humor and was simply nice guy. Most importantly, he was a devoted husband and father. In short, in a term he would have appreciated, he was a mensch.”
Local lawyer Ellen A. Callegary wrote of Sachs, “He was a mentor to me and many other attorneys. His work advocating for vulnerable individuals made so many lives better. He worked to help institutionalized individuals with disabilities live in our communities in their own homes with the supports they needed..”
In a statement, gubernatorial candidate Tom Perez said, “Former Attorney General Stephen Sachs dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice for all Marylanders, and integrity and accomplishment were his middle names. He was a mentor, a friend, advisor, father figure, and towering figure in our state, and he will be sorely missed.”
Sachs was married to Sheila Kleinman Sachs, a divorce attorney and Baltimore City School board member, for 58 years until her death in April of 2019.
He is survived by his children, Elisabeth A. Sachs (David Sheehy) and Leon Sachs (Pearl James); and his grandchildren, Jack Sheehy, Liza Sheehy, and Chloe Sachs.
He was predeceased by his parents Shirley (Blum) and Leon Sachs. A political science instructor at Johns Hopkins University, Leon Sachs served as executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council for 34 years.
Memorial services for Stephen Sachs are private. Contributions in his memory may be sent to the Public Justice Center, 201 N. Charles Street, Suite 1200, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.
A celebration of Sachs’ life will take place in the spring.
The BCO, founded in 1984, will perform the works of Frank Zappa, Beethoven, Mason Bates and Karena Ingram.
For more than 130 years, Sol Levinson & Bros. has been woven into the fabric of Baltimore’s Jewish community.
Led by local Israel-American cellist Amit Peled, the Mount Vernon Virtuosi aims to inspire people beyond musical enjoyment.
