The death was confirmed by his wife, Jan Taylor.
Judge Taylor completed law school at American University in 1953, becoming the school’s earliest known African American graduate. Three years later, he was one of the first blacks admitted to the Prince George’s County Bar Association.
The county remained dominated by a conservative white establishment for many years to come, but Judge Taylor continued rising in positions of prominence. In 1963, he was named Maryland’s first black assistant state’s attorney. In 1969, he was appointed by Gov. Marvin Mandel (D) to the state’s 7th Judicial Circuit. He served 18 years on the bench, mainly handling family and juvenile cases, before he retired in 1987.
As a young lawyer, Judge Taylor was widely known as a “gutsy prosecutor,” The Washington Post reported in 1987. While serving on the court, he was accused at times of being too compassionate and forgiving in judicial rulings involving minors.
