Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Judicial Nominating Commission will decide Tuesday night who the "most highly qualified" candidates are to become the next chief justice of the State of Rhode Island.

There are six candidates vying to become chief justice of the state Supreme Court -- four justices who currently sit on that court, one long-time Superior Court judge who was previously selected as a finalist and Rhode Island's top federal prosecutor. Whoever is selected will become the top judge and judicial administrator in the state. The position carries a base annual salary of $167,644 with lifetime tenure for good behavior.

The job is open because Frank J. Williams abruptly resigned as chief justice effective Dec. 31 after just eight years on the job, stunning the legal and political community. However, at the invitation of acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, he has continued to sit on the bench almost full-time since then, collecting a daily stipend of $112.83 in addition to his $138,306 pension, which is 75 percent of his former salary.

The candidates competing to replace Williams are: Goldberg -- who if selected would become the state's first female chief justice -- and Associate Justices Paul A. Suttell, Francis X. Flaherty and William P. Robinson III; Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr.; and U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente.

The nine-member nominating commission -- which includes five lawyers -- interviewed each of the candidates at a three-hour public hearing last week. Tuesday's hearing is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. in Conference Room A on the second floor of the Department of Administration building. Each of the candidates has been invited to have two witnesses testify in his or her behalf. Members of the public can also weigh in.

Afterward, the commission members may adjourn to deliberate in private. But their votes must be cast in public. By the end of the night, they will select three to five of the candidates to send to Governor Carcieri, who will then choose one of the finalists.

Rhode Island law says that in choosing the finalists, the commission should consider the candidates' "intellect, ability, temperament, impartiality, diligence, experience, maturity, education, publications and record of public, community and government service."

The law requires Carcieri to make his choice within 21 days, but he isn't expected to. Political insiders are betting that the contentious battle playing out at the State House over the governor's proposed budget revisions will stall the appointment.

Asked last week how long it would take Governor Carcieri to appoint the next chief justice, his spokesperson, Amy Kempe, said she did not know. "Choosing the chief justice or any person for the bench requires a significant and thoughtful vetting process and much consideration. The appointments are lifetime appointments," she noted. "Traditionally," she said, "we have viewed the 21-day period to be merely advisory."

Comments

Bill said:

This selection will be the test of the Commission as a true reform of the previous process of election by the General Assembly. As they can only sent a maximum of five candidates to the Governor, they can't just slip in Corrente unless they pass over one of the judges who are all better qualified. Will they really send up the five best candidates or include Corrente because of his party and his support from the Gov?

Link | March 30, 2009 9:05 PM
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