____________________
Ms. Wyvell – In answer to the specific legal questions raised in your email, I would point you first to Article VI, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia. This section clearly states that the justices of the Supreme Court and all other judges in courts of record shall be chosen by majority vote of each body of the General Assembly. Therefore, the Constitution specifically sets forth the manner for the selection of judges. Since this is a constitutional provision, it can only be changed in accordance with the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution. This article provides for the procedure outlined in your email or for amendment by a constitutional convention. I am not aware of any provision of law that would give the Governor the authority through an executive order to place a referendum question concerning a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Consequently, I would suggest that you raise your concerns about judicial selection with your delegate and Senator. Thank you for your email. -Mark E. Rubin on 22 April 2009*
...
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to change the method of re-appointing state judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election
by the voters? Any takers? -VW-
...
...
“Litigation Nation”
...
You live in a “
litigation nation.” Your chances of winding up in a courtroom are pretty good. Your understanding of the Virginia judge selection process is probably not so good. You take little interest in how a person becomes a judge, and
remains a judge, for the same reasons you are likely to die without a will. Most of you are unprepared for the end of your life, just as most of you are unprepared for the prospect you will end up, after your day in court, with an unpleasant ruling, an unfair killer-decision possibly more unappealing than death itself. And in these times, court is
barely less unavoidable than death.
...Inbred Judiciary
...
How can this happen? Why do judges in Virginia issue court orders that can make an innocent-enough person feel like the victim of a “hate crime” when some
sensibly administered justice would have sufficed? This can happen to people in Virginia because the judicial selection and re-selection process is deformed and has created a judiciary that is
inbred which is producing even greater deformity as judicial rulings deteriorate and as judicial respect--for the dignity and the resources of litigants--declines.
When legislative sessions close leaving judicial vacancies, circuit court chief judges must appoint district-level (juvenile district and general district) judges to fill the vacant posts. Circuit chiefs are also responsible for choosing lawyers to serve as
substitute judges. Substitute judges and sitting district-level judges are more likely to be appointed or elevated by the legislature and the governor, when legislators are
unable to agree, to a permanent seat either on district court or circuit court, if already a substitute judge, and circuit court, if already a district judge, juvenile or general, than
non-insider status candidates. Judges for the appeals court and justices for the supreme court are generally recruited from the circuit bench, possibly even landing some of those judge-appointed substitute judges and judge-appointed district-level judges on Virginia’s highest courts. I have never completely understood how some of these promotions, or elevations, are decided.
Furthermore, I have noticed, when a judge advances to another court in mid-term, his or her interview is postponed, that is, delayed by the length of the term associated with that particular court: 8 years for circuit court, 8 for appeals and 12 for supreme. With the
Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) program now
cancelled by decision of the 2009 legislative session, “interviews,” known officially as “
Judicial Interviews of Incumbents,” is the only screening mechanism in place, acting to protect citizen-consumers of legal services from defective judges. The event is annual and it really is Virginia’s
ultimate oversight agency for the judiciary because even “
Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission” board members must submit to “interviews.” But, and especially since most members of the general public do not go to “interviews,” it is mostly a “rubber-stamp affair.” Citizens, tragically, are
skipping “interviews” because it is such a poorly promoted event, and sitting judges, apparently, are
skipping “interviews” because jurists promoted before the end of their term slip through such a poorly designed system for screening them.
Incompetent Legislature
...
The General Assembly’s Courts of Justice Committee, under the tutelage of
Mr. Albo, is derelict in its duty to appoint and re-appoint good people to the bench because: it has
dumped a constitutional responsibility into the laps of circuit court judges (and the governor in those cases when legislators fail to fill judge vacancies at the circuit, appeals, and supreme court levels by close of session of the general assembly), it has
junked the Judicial Performance Evaluation program, and it has routinely “qualified” candidates other judges
handpicked for confirmation by the entire general assembly in “rubber-stamp affairs” known as “Judicial Interviews of Incumbents.” Though Mr. Albo this winter stated, “[S]omething we need to improve, is that it's too difficult [for members of the general public] to find out when judges are up for appointment and when [citizens] can speak," and, “[U]nless anyone comes to complain, judges usually get re-appointed,” he took no action to ameliorate the situation. Since telling a reporter for The Post 12 months ago exactly the
2008 selection process had been a “total disaster,” Mr. Albo has done an excellent job of showing the problem his back.
A referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters, if successful, would restore a reasonable and intelligent judiciary, improve judicial respect for the dignity and resources of litigants, and increase the likelihood of
sensible court orders. Retention election would control for the ever-growing risk of killer-rulings that can make an innocent-enough citizen feel like the target of a “hate crime” because retention election interrupts judge-inbreeding. Retention election would eliminate legislator-commitment to
not getting along at judge appointment time and cutting out public input, which encourage judge-inbreeding, because retention election removes the state legislature from any involvement in re-selection and gives the voters the final word on who gets to
remain a judge.
The
blind and
sheltered re-appointment and confirmation of judges, many of whom were
handpicked by other judges, simply is not creating a reasonable, intelligent and empathetic judiciary in Virginia. How can it? A judicial candidate, who was probably chosen by another judge, is “qualified” for re-appointment--
without performance data, without public testimony, and without professional criteria to determine qualification--in a quiet “rubber-stamp affair,” that is, a candidate is subjected to a silly (
Come see for yourself!) interview, lasting no more than 5 or 10 minutes, by a tiny panel of (trial) lawyer-legislators, then almost always breezes right through confirmation by an entire state legislature in yet another “rubber-stamp affair” that, like the silly interview, is nothing more than another formality.
If you agree the process is
not “dumb, disgusting, and outright dangerous,” if you believe there is
no emergency, you should stop reading now, click out and pray you never find yourself inside a court of law of this commonwealth. If, however, you find my information a wee bit disturbing then please let me know. I urge you also to tell your legislators--the delegate and the senator in your district--and maybe Mr. Rubin too. Send them
your idea for a smarter, sounder, and safer judge re-appointment system in Virginia if you don’t like mine.
I propose amending the state constitution to allow the voters to decide in general elections whether to retain judges. I think we need a question on the ballot in November that will address the issue of inserting
retention elections into the Virginia judge re-appointment, or re-selection, process. I hope you do too. I know that together we can stop the
blind and
sheltered re-appointment and confirmation of judges in Virginia and put
sensible justice back into our courtrooms.
Public Input
...
You might be asking, What is a “retention” election? Let me clarify with some help from Mr. Litten who wrote in “
Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia's Judicial Selection Process”:
…The new judge then serves a trial period at the end of which the voting public, through the use of an uncontested “yes/no” retention election, decide whether or not he or she should continue service. If retained the judge goes on to serve a full term and is subject to retention elections at the end of each term.
And,
…Retention elections insert democratic principles into the [judicial selection] process by allowing the ultimate authority in this country, the people, to hold judges accountable while still avoiding the serious problems found in contested elections, such as possible conflicts of interest when contributors to a judge’s campaign appear before the judge in court. “In retention elections, judges run against their records, rather than against opposing candidates, which means that incumbents are at risk of losing their seats only if voters deem their records unacceptable.” Holding retention elections serves “to remind judges that they are judges, not legislators, and that their conduct in office is important. Elections allow citizens to evaluate the judges” while still freeing judicial candidates “from traditional partisan politics and fundraising” and “judicial decisions are more impartial because judges are in a secure environment to decide the cases in a neutral and fair manner.”
Mr. Litten explains that “judicial decisions are more impartial because judges are in a secure environment to decide the cases in a neutral and fair manner” when freed from fundraising, traditional partisan politics, and lawyer-legislators who confirm them and also appear before them in court. I agree. In our current system, it is understandable state judges can be less preoccupied and less concerned with how the public might measure their loyalty to “Black Letter Law” or the “Canons of Judicial Conduct” than how their decisions might play out in “House Room C” at interview time.
Judge Garland L. Bigley was fired, in 2006. She had boldly told her interviewers, “
Yes, I sanction lawyers.” Chairman Albo and the other lawyer-legislators were unimpressed. The judge had given, as an example, the lawyer who inconvenienced a lot of people--people like you and me--by not showing up for trial. So she sanctioned him, she said. The legislature disqualifies, or does not confirm, one judge a year, roughly. I was sorry to see Judge Bigley go. The people of the 11th Judicial District had lost a good judge, I thought.
“
[L]egislators can and do set their own criteria for determining whether a judge belongs in office,” we learn from Mr. Litten. We learn formal written judicial selection criteria
do not exist in Virginia. I highly recommend his
article.
The people of Virginia should demand from Richmond more separation between the legislative branch and the judicial branch in matters pertaining to the hiring and the firing of state judges and should see as normal, and urgent, more
involvement of the electorate in the judge re-selection (re-appointment) process. It’s really a two-part issue: judge selection and judge re-selection (re-appointment). Retention election addresses the second half of this issue and is the first step toward a true
Missouri Plan for Virginia. But Mr. Rubin says we must first
amend (
definition) the constitution to allow for the
public input in judge re-selection (re-appointment) via retention elections.
...The Question
I ask for your support in getting on the 2009 November ballot the following question:
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to change the method of re-appointing state judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?
_ YES
_ NO”
Please show your support, or even lack thereof, by sending your comment, your vote, to:
YES.Judge.Retention.Election@gmail.com,
Or,
NO.Judge.Retention.Election@gmail.com.
And
please share your viewpoint with
your legislators (
senator and
delegate) when you share it with me. Why not also forward a copy to Counselor and Senior Advisor to the Governor
Mark E. Rubin? Information on Mr. Rubin can be found below in my recent email message for him and his answer for me (which also prefaces this post).
After you email your comment, your “yes” or “no” vote, to
Judge Retention Election at gMail, the
Senator and the
Delegate in your district, and
Mark Rubin of the Office of the Governor,
please forward a copy to
Therese Martin (mail to
TBMartin4@verizon.net) of the League of Women Voters. Ms. Martin has stated, in a recent email message for me, “Once a [referendum] is placed on the ballot in Virginia…the League has often taken a position on the question and campaigned either in favor of or opposition to the question.”
Do not send your comment to me if you do not want it published on the blog!
...
Thank you for participating! -VW-
...
… I was very disappointed to see that the interviews were almost worthless … There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny … -
Robert F. McDonnell, Candidate for Virginia 2009 Governorship, Former Virginia Attorney General, Former Virginia Delegate and House Courts of Justice Chairman
____________________
*Original Messages
From: Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
To: [VW]
Subject: RE: Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:07
Ms. Wyvell – In answer to the specific legal questions raised in your email, I would point you first to Article VI, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia. This section clearly states that the justices of the Supreme Court and all other judges in courts of record shall be chosen by majority vote of each body of the General Assembly. Therefore, the Constitution specifically sets forth the manner for the selection of judges. Since this is a constitutional provision, it can only be changed in accordance with the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution. This article provides for the procedure outlined in your email or for amendment by a constitutional convention. I am not aware of any provision of law that would give the Governor the authority through an executive order to place a referendum question concerning a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Consequently, I would suggest that you raise your concerns about judicial selection with your delegate and Senator. Thank you for your email.
Mark E. Rubin
Counselor to the Governor
Patrick Henry Building
1111 E. Broad Street
Richmond, Va. 23219
804-692-0136
From: [VW]
To: Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
Subject: Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:38
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Mark E. Rubin
Senior Advisor to the Governor
Patrick Henry Building
1111 East Broad Street, 3rd Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
Re:
Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters
Dear Mr. Rubin,
I am writing to you because my search for a good explanation of the relationship between “executive order” and “state governor” is leading me absolutely nowhere.
In discussions--about referenda--with representatives of the Fairfax League of Women Voters I learned the rule in Virginia is “no referendum may be placed on the ballot unless it is specifically authorized by law.” Unfortunately, my question for the ballot in November is not a referendum specified in the Code of Virginia. So I write you to inquire if Governor Kaine can issue executive orders that would bypass the requirement referenda first be allowed by law before their placement on ballots. After all, Virginia law does not prohibit my issue. And the law is flawed also because it does not consider that my issue might be an emergency. The law is unreasonable too because bills that propose to deprive lawmakers of special authority simply do not bide well with most legislators.
I am feeling held back by the law’s stinginess (and I should say I am feeling oppressed by such a requirement since most states have much less offensive policies and procedures regarding the right of private citizens to place a question on the ballot), its failure to invite and welcome creativity and innovation, its failure to anticipate and provide for matters that are urgent, and its failure to recognize that most legislators will fight hard against any legislation that proposes to strip them of important power such as the power to re-appoint/re-select judges, for example.
I would feel less held back, however, if I were a “governing body” instead of a “mere individual,” a decent-enough citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, paying the taxes I owe, respecting the laws, voting. In my research, I was sorry to learn that an individual may not request a court order to place a question on the ballot. I learned “governing bodies” only may request court orders to place referenda on ballots. I learned that after I convince the Virginia General Assembly to create a law that allows me to try to take away its right to re-select state judges, I should knock on doors for signatures for my petitions showing the question I am convinced 99.9% of the Virginia populace would answer with a resounding YES.
So, now, a second purpose of this letter for you, Mr. Rubin, is to know if The Office of the Governor (Tim Kaine), after issuing the executive order for a
referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters, can then request a court order for getting on the 2009 November ballot the following question:
“Shall the method of re-appointing state judges be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?
_ YES
_ NO”
Mr. Rubin, please, Are you not just a little perturbed by this steady stream and never-ending thread of media attention on judge hiring and firing “system-failure” in Virginia?
Virginia’s judicial selection and re-appointment/re-selection process has been broken for years. When in the world will our leaders begin to give this problem top priority and take action to solve it?
Furthermore, Do you not hear the people of Virginia crying out for more involvement in that process, a process more and more evidence is suggesting is producing a bad judiciary?
And
ridding Virginia of bad judges is not getting easier.
Mr. Cooper, for example, reported March 16, 2009, on the stalled Judicial Performance Evaluation program. I believe Mr. Albo wanted public dissemination of performance records and Mr. Hassell did not. Because these two apparently could not agree on the handling of results the JPE program was killed. Thank you very much. Former husbands and former wives are not the only ones disagreeing over children. Most of us don't kill the children.
I would say Mr. McDonnell must not be too happy. The JPE program was his “baby.” He conceived it because he considered judicial interviews “almost worthless.” He told Mr. Gilbert in a February 2008 telephone interview: “There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny.”
I completely agree with Mr. McDonnell. I have observed three years of “rubber-stamping” as a regular at “Judicial Interviews of Incumbent Judges.”
In my opinion, and in the opinions of more and more supporters who are joining me each year for judge interviews, the Virginia system for selecting and re-selecting judges is
dumb, disgusting and outright dangerous. I offer no apology for my choice of adjectives.
I am very concerned. Many citizen-consumers of legal services in Virginia are very concerned. We are watching Virginia’s judge selection and re-selection process spiral out of control, and we do not like what we see. Many of us got out of bad marriages for the right reasons. We are now ready to see more separation between the judiciary and the legislature for reasons we know are right.
Mr. Jackman wrote recently about this growing public disenchantment with the Virginia judge appointment and retention process, while reporting also the removal of Judge Finch from the Fairfax circuit bench. Mr. Jackman’s news story appeared on the front page of the Metro section in The Washington Post.
And between Mr. Jackman’s reportage of
March 2, 2009, followed two weeks later by Mr. Cooper’s posting of
March 16, 2009, and Mr. Gilbert’s piece of
March 31, 2008, we have Ms. Kumar who, in a
May 11, 2008, article, quotes Mr. Albo when he called the 2008 legislative session’s judicial appointment process a “total disaster” (because legislator-bickering left too many judicial posts vacant for your boss, the governor, to fill).
*
Mr. Rubin, we have in Virginia selection of judges that is sloppy compounded by retention of judges that is slipshod. The two divorced mothers who presented testimony in Richmond last December to oppose the re-appointment of Mr. Finch were led there by me. I am completely committed to helping the electorate understand how it can become involved in Virginia’s judicial selection and re-selection process because our Circuit Court Chief Judges and our District Court Committees and our Courts of Justice Panels-- all under the tutelage of Mr. Albo--have done such a deplorable job of providing citizen-consumers of legal services in Virginia with good people to staff the bench.
I wish I could go around and ask my neighbors if they believe the method of re-appointing state judges should be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters. Virginia law says I cannot. Virginia law currently does not permit me to collect the signatures needed to get my question on the ballot. “My issue” is not authorized by law, and in Virginia, I have learned, “no referendum may be placed on the ballot unless it is specifically authorized by law.”
So, again, I would like to know if our governor is empowered to issue an executive order that can bypass the requirement my referendum, my question to the people about changing the method used in Virginia to retain judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters, be authorized by law before its placement on the ballot. Could Governor Kaine then request a court order which would allow his office to get the following question on the November 2009 ballot:
“Shall the method of re-appointing state judges be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?
_ YES
_ NO”
Truly, Mr. Rubin, What will it take for you and fellow top state officials to finally care that establishing policy and procedure for the regulation of judge selection and re-selection in Virginia is an emergency?
How much more testimony from aggrieved constituents at Judicial Interviews each year?
How much more press coverage?
I will not be easily distracted by talk from you and others of the need to amend the Constitution of Virginia. You and they must persuade me first that the right to
re-select/re-appoint state judges belongs solely to the state legislature. I see no such language in our constitution.
Respectfully submitted,
Veronique Wyvell, RN
Private citizen
7831 Enola Street, #TA7
McLean, Virginia 22102
*Current Events
March 16, 2009 / by Alan Cooper
Judicial evaluation program is dead
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/weeklyedition/2009/03/16/judicial-evaluation-program-is-dead/
March 2, 2009 / by Tom Jackman
Va. Judge Selection Process Criticized: Group Challenges Lack of Public Input
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101882.html
May 11, 2008 / by Anita Kumar
Bickering in Va. General Assembly Leaves Judicial Posts Open
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002531.html
March 31, 2008 / by Daniel Gilbert
Data Will Help Lawmakers Determine Judges Qualifications
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/-TRI_2008_04_01_0001/7881/
____________________
Related Links
Friday, December 12, 2008
RIDDING Va. OF BAD JUDGES NOT GETTING EASIER. With Judicial Evaluations Stuck in Albo’s “Secret Safe,” Lawmakers Seek to Unseat Chief Justice Hassell.
Friday, March 6, 2009
VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”
Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges
Sunday, March 8, 2009
VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN
Thursday, March 12, 2009
CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???
Thursday, March 12, 2009
NO FORMAL JUDGE APPOINTMENT, RETENTION POLICIES, PROCEDURES EXIST IN VIRGINIA. TERM LIMITS WOULD PROTECT CITIZENRY NOVA MOTHER TELLS AP'S LARRY O'DELL
Monday, March 30, 2009
PartyTime! Public Welcomed to “The Premier Legal Event In Northern Virginia,” The George Mason Law School 12th Annual Judicial & Legislative Reception
And
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
IN VIRGINIA, JUDICIAL INBREEDING IMPEDES JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN
. . .
ADDENDA
6.1.09 ... Gov. Tim Kaine elevated two lower court judges today to fill circuit seats in Southside and in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights ... The delegation that covers the Southside circuit ... was unable to settle on a candidate to replace Wellons during the 2009 legislative session.
Cunningham, Burgess appointed to Southside, Chesterfield judgeships
By Alan Cooper / Virginia Lawyers Weekly Blog / June 1, 2009
Gov. Tim Kaine elevated two lower court judges today to fill circuit seats in Southside and in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights.
Kaine appointed Chesterfield J&DR Judge Harold W. Burgess Jr. to replace Judge Cleo E. Powell, who was named to the Virginia Court of Appeals, and General District Judge Joel C. Cunningham to replace Judge William L. Wellons, who had retired, in the sprawling 10th Judicial Circuit.
The delegation that covers the Southside circuit – the counties of Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and Prince Edward – was unable to settle on a candidate to replace Wellons during the 2009 legislative session.
Wellons’ chambers were in Halifax as are those of Cunningham, who will be the first black judge in the circuit.
Cunningham has been on the district bench 1997. Before his election, he was in private practice in Halifax for 10 years and served previously as an attorney for the Virginia Legal Aid Society, as a prosecutor in Halifax and as an assistant attorney general.
He is a graduate of Virginia State University and the University of Virginia law school. The delegation that covers Chesterfield agreed on John V. Cogbill III to replace Powell, but he decided not to take the seat after the legislature adjourned for the year. The delegation then told Burgess that it preferred that Burgess fill the seat.
Burgess was in private practice for 22 years before his appointment to the J&DR seat in 1996. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1968 from and the U.Va. law school in 1972.The General Assembly will decide at the next session whether to elect Burgess and Cunningham to eight-year terms.
This article can be found at:
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2009/06/01/cunningham-appointed-circuit-judge-in-southside/
. . .
ADDENDA
5.20.09 ... Circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit select a substitute judge to fill a vacancy in juvenile and domestic relations court ... Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.
Blacksburg lawyer tapped to be a judge
By Shawna Morrison / The Roanoke Times / May 20, 2009
A Blacksburg lawyer and substitute judge has been selected to fill a vacancy for a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in the New River Valley.
The circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit selected Harriet Dorsey to fill the interim position and she agreed, Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk said Tuesday. An order officially appointing Dorsey has not yet been entered, he said.
Dorsey’s appointment will begin June 1 and will last through the end of the year.
Next year, the General Assembly will attempt to appoint someone to a full six-year term.
Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.
The 27th judicial circuit includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe and the cities of Radford and Galax.
Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, since former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Michael Keith Blankenship went on leave last year following legal troubles and then resigned.
Dorsey has been a substitute judge in the juvenile and domestic relations court and the general district court for 20 years as well as an administrative hearing officer for the Supreme Court of Virginia.
This article can be found at:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/205397
. . .
ADDENDA
2.28.09 ... Local delegations were unable to agree on candidates to fill several vacancies, including seats in the 9th and 10th circuits and general district seats in the 25th and 27th circuits. If the legislature can’t settle on candidates for those seats at the assembly’s veto session, Gov. Tim Kaine will be responsible for filling the circuit positions and circuit judges the district seats.
Assembly elects judges
By Alan Cooper / Virginia Lawyers Weekly Blog / February 28, 2009
The reappointment or election of 24 judges and two members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission was the last business of the 2009 General Assembly tonight.
Both houses adjourned for the year about 8:45 p.m. after the reappointments and elections.
The reappointments were Fairfax Circuit Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr. and the five general district judges who had been caught in the crossfire between the General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Virginia over the confidentiality of the judicial performance evaluation reports: David L. Williams and Timothy Wright of Chesapeake, Bryant L. Sugg of Newport News, Birdie H. Jamison of Richmond and Colleen Killilea of the 9th Judicial District.
The reappointment of Finch [which is contingent on the expectation he will retire by January 1, 2010--see Tom Jackman] had been delayed because of complaints raised by litigants who said they felt that Finch had handled their cases in a cursory manner.
Circuit judges appointed to a first term were:
Mary Jane Hall, a partner at Kaufman & Canoles, to the vacancy created by the retirement Judge John S. Morrison Jr. in Norfolk.
Hampton General District Judge Bonnie L. Jones to the vacancy created by the retirement of Circuit Judge William Andrews.
Gloucester General District Judge R. Bruce Long to the vacancy created by the retirement of 9th Circuit Judge William shaw.
John V. Cogbill III, a partner at McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, to the vacancy created by the elevation of Chesterfield County Circuit Judge Cleo E. Powell to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Prince William General District Judge Craig D. Johnston to the vacancy created by the elevation of Circuit Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
General district judges appointed to a first term were:
Philip J. Infantino Jr., a partner at Pender & Coward PC in Norfolk to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Carter in Chesapeake.
Steven C. Frucci, a partner at Stallings & Bischoff PC, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Edward Hudgins in Virginia Beach.
M. Woodrow Griffin Jr., a sole practitioner in Hampton, and Tonya Henderson-Stith, a partner in McDermott, Roe & Walter PC in Hampton, to the vacancies created by the elevation of Judge Bonnie L. Jones to the Hampton Circuit Court and the retirement of Judge Edward Knight III.
Pamela O. Evans, a commissioner of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, to a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert D. Laney in Chesterfield County.
Richard A. Claybrook Jr., deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Rockingham County, and Amy B. Tisinger, a prosecutor in Shenandoah County, to vacancies created by the retirement of Judges Norman deV. Morrison and Marvin Hillsman Jr. in the 26th District.
Richard C. Patterson, a partner in the Tazewell firm of Gillespie, Hart, Altizer & Whitesell PC, to the vacancy created by the death of Judge Greg Matney in the 29th District.
Juvenile and domestic relations district judges appointed to a first term were:
Michelle J.L. Atkins, an attorney with Abrons, Fasanaro & Sceviour in Norfolk, to a vacancy created by the elevation of Jerrauld Jones to Norfolk Circuit Court.
Deborah S. Roe, a partner at McDermott, Roe & Walter in Hampton, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Nelson Durden in Hampton.
R. Michael McKenney, commonwealth’s attorney in Northumberland County, to the vacancy created by the retirement of J. Maston Davis in the 15th District.
H. David O’Donnell, a sole practitioner in Harrisonburg, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Marvin Hillsman Jr. in the 26th District.
Michael J. Bush, commonwealth’s attorney in Russell County, to the vacancy created by the failure to elect Judge John M. Farmer in 2008 in the 29th District.The legislature reappointed lay member Olivia Welsh to JIRC and appointed Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo to the seat vacated by Judge Cleo E. Powell when she was appointed to the Court of Appeals.
Local delegations were unable to agree on candidates to fill several vacancies, including seats in the 9th and 10th circuits and general district seats in the 25th and 27th circuits. If the legislature can’t settle on candidates for those seats at the assembly’s veto session, Gov. Tim Kaine will be responsible for filling the circuit positions and circuit judges the district seats.
This article can be found at:
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2009/02/28/assembly-elects-judges/
. . .
ADDENDA
Model Judicial Selection Provisions Revised 2008
ESTABLISHING A [JUDICIAL NOMINATING]
COMMISSION PLAN FOR APPOINTMENT TO OFFICE
BY EXECUTIVE ORDER
[Preface] …The 2008 revisions represent American Judicature Society policy as to the “best practices” in selecting, retaining, and evaluating judges. While earlier versions of the model provisions offered a variety of alternatives regarding the role and composition of judicial nominating and evaluation commissions, this version limits the availability of alternative provisions to provide for the strongest possible processes. Earlier versions also offered language for establishing judicial nominating commissions by constitutional provision, or by statute or executive order. With this version, in order to create a nomination process with the greatest stability and legitimacy, model constitutional or statutory language is provided in Part I and model language for an executive order process is offered in the Appendix.
-Seth S. Andersen
Executive Vice President
American Judicature Society
The Opperman Center at Drake University
2700 University Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50311
800.626.4089
http://www.ajs.org/
http://www.ajs.org/selection/docs/MJSP_web.pdf
Outlook
