How Corrupted Virginia Judicial system picks judges

Richmond times - Dispatch


Virginia is one of only two states in which the legislature elects judges. Legislators say the system works well, despite the potential for political favoritism.
But there is a groundswell of discontent among Virginia residents who find the system mysterious and impenetrable. They have appealed to legislators, but they're now broadening their crusade for a wholesale evaluation of the judicial-selection process.
"I'm inflamed by what I've seen, over what's happened the last six months," said Bruce Bennett, a Fairfax County resident who traveled to Richmond to oppose a Fairfax County judge's re-election.

The residents -- who call themselves the "Pitchfork Rebellion" -- started as litigants who were displeased with the way a judge handled their case. But as they tried to work their complaints through the proper channels, they grew increasingly frustrated by what they perceive as a closed, often secretive system.
Recently, others have raised questions about the process -- people who have watched it closely for years, including the former delegate who is now the Republican nominee for governor.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias wrote in the University of Richmond Law Review last December that the legislative infighting has become so severe that the General Assembly might consider another method of electing judges.
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How Virginia picks judges
Input: The legislature's House and Senate Courts of Justice committees interview candidates in public meetings and make recommendations to the full House and Senate.
Election: If the committees agree, the names go to the full assembly of 40 senators and 100 delegates for a vote.

Impasse: If the full assembly cannot agree on a candidate, a judgeship can go unfilled and the governor may appoint a judge.
Re-election: Lawmakers on the courts committees take into consideration evaluation forms filled out by lawyers who practice before the judges.

How states pick judgesThe 50 states use a variety of methods. • Commission-based appointments • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections • A combination of commission-based appointments and partisan or nonpartisan elections • Gubernatorial appointments • Legislative appointments or elections SOURCE: American Judicature Society

NINETEENTH CIRCUIT
Location: Fairfax Circuit Court
4110 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Tel. (703) 246-4111

Judges: Jan Lois Brodie.........................................................term expires2/13/09
David S. Schell .......................................................................term expires 2/13/09
Gaylord L. Finch, Jr...............................................................term expires 6/30/09
Jane Marum Roush ............................................................... term expires 6/30/09
Randy I. Bellows ....................................................................term expires 1/31/11
*Dennis J. Smith.....................................................................term expires 5/31/11
David T. Stitt ..........................................................................term expires 6/30/11
Michael P. McWeeny ............................................................. term expires 2/29/12
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Leslie M. Alden ......................................................................term expires 7/31/12
Jonathan C. Thacher .............................................................term expires 4/30/14
Charles J. Maxfield.................................................................term expires 1/31/15
R. Terrence Ney......................................................................term expires 1/31/15
Marcus D. Williams................................................................term expires 1/31/15
Robert J. Smith ......................................................................term expires 1/31/16
Bruce D. White .......................................................................term expires 1/15/16

Let the People Judge the Judges

Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia's Judicial Selection Proces.
by: Donald D. Litten
For Virginia Business
The writer is a Harrisonburg attorney in practice since 1957.

Judicial selection in the States is an important, diverse, and controversial process. State judges impact every arena of life with their decisions, from traffic to criminal court. And through this century, the debate has persisted over what is the best way to select these judges. In Virginia, the state constitution gives the General Assembly the right to choose judges, one of very few states to use this method. Most of the other states use some form of popular election or gubernatorial appointment. "To outsiders, Virginia's system of lawmakers electing judges looks quirky and even unfair, a cloistered system of good ol' boys looking out for each other." Perhaps there is a reason that Virginia is in by far the minority on the judicial selection issue. There are too many flaws in a system that gives the legislature exclusive power to appoint and remove judges at its pleasure. Virginia's system as it is now is "a highly partisan process that Democrats had lorded over while they were in power, and one that state Republicans seem to be relishing now that they're in the majority." Virginia needs to rethink the way it chooses its judges. more