With Robert M. Bell serving as Chief Judge, the Maryland State Appeals Court has the highest authority of any court in the state. There are six other judges serving in the court alongside the Chief Judge: Judge Sally Adkins, Judge Clayton Greene, Jr., Judge Joseph M. Murphy Junior, Judge Mary Ellen Barbara, Judge Glenn T. Harrell, Jr. and Judge Lynne A. Battaglia. By law the court must hear any cases in which the death penalty is in question.