Judge David W. Young is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. He received his Associate of Arts Degree from Hagerstown Junior College in 1971 and was awarded Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1974. Judge Young obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1977.
In 1978, he began an appellate clerkship with the late Honorable Judge David T. Mason, Associate Judge, Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. In 1980, Judge Young joined the staff of the Baltimore City Solicitor’s Office as an Assistant City Solicitor. He was appointed by Governor Harry Hughes to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City in December 1985. In December 1995, Judge Young was appointed to the Circuit Court for Baltimore by Governor Parris N. Glendening and elected to a fifteen-year term in 1996.
Judge Young is active in a number of civic and professional organizations. He is one of the founders of the Second-Generation Foundation which was established to provide financial assistance to minority students at his alma mater, the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland; the Board of Managers of the Druid Hill YMCA and the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Central Maryland. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Zion Christian Middle School and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Maryland Bible Society.
From 1996 until 2019, Judge Young served on the Maryland Foster Care Court Improvement Project Implementation Committee which endeavors to improve the performance of juvenile courts in child abuse and neglect cases. In 2006, he was named the Committee’s Vice-Chairman and chaired its Training Subcommittee from 1996 until 2019. This Subcommittee oversees the specialized training of judges and masters who preside in juvenile cases. He also served on the Juvenile Law Subcommittee of the Family Law Committee which seeks to enhance the performance of the juvenile courts in delinquency cases.
He has received numerous honors and awards including being selected as one of the Outstanding Young Men in America in 1977 and, in 1992, Outstanding Alumnus by University of Maryland Baltimore County. In February 1996, Judge Young received the Harrison J. Bryant Religious Service Award from Bethel AME Church. In September 1996, he was named outstanding alumnus by Hagerstown Junior College. In 1998, he was named Volunteer of the Year by the YMCA of Central Maryland. In 2006, Judge Young received The American Bar Associations Scripps Howard Foundation Distinguished Service to Literacy Award. In 2009, he received the 2009 Leadership in Law Award from the Maryland Daily Record. In 2013, he received the Robert M. Bell Award from the FCCIP Implementation Committee for service to foster children and their families.
Judge Young previously served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law where he taught legal writing and Moot Court.
In addition to his civic activities, Judge Young is the former Pastor of Oak Sreet A.M.E. Church. He was licensed to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in May 1996 and Ordained an Itinerant Elder in April 2003. Judge Young was awarded a Master of Divinity Degree by Virginia Union University in May 2003.
Judge Young resides in Baltimore City, and is the proud father of two daughters, Daina and Tereina and one son, Anthony, the grandfather of five adorable grandchildren, and is the loving husband of Berneda Logan Young.
