Update: Carcieri chief of staff OK'd to seek judgeship
3:35 PM Tue, Mar 24, 2009 | Permalink
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The Rhode Island Ethics Commission ruled today that Brian Stern, Governor Carcieri's chief of staff, can seek a state judgeship without running afoul of the state's ``revolving door'' law. Stern has applied for two positions -- a vacant spot on the Rhode Island Superior Court and chief of the District Court. The state's "revolving door'' law, designed to avoid any undue influence, prohibits senior aides to elected officials from taking a government job within one year of leaving public service. However, there is an exception for people who have previously worked for the state at least five years. Prior to becoming the governor's chief of staff in March 2007, Stern worked eight years for the state, in the Department of Business Regulation and the Department of Administration. Meeting this morning, the Ethics Commission voted 5-0 to adopt an advisory opinion stating that Stern is within his rights to seek a judgeship. One commissioner, James V. Murray, did not participate, he said, because he, too, has applied for a judgeship. Stern told the commission that he kept his intentions of applying for a judgeship to himself until he formally applied earlier this month. Since then, he said, he has taken himself out of the loop in the governor's review of potential judicial candidates. "What I'm looking to be able to do is go before the merit selection process of the Judicial Nominating Commission,'' Stern told the commission. ``I'm really trying to be as pro-active as I can.'' Afterward, Stern said that he expects to hear within a week or so whether he will be interviewed for a judgeship. The Judicial Nominating Commission screens and interviews candidates before making recommendations to the governor, who then makes a choice that must be ratified by the Rhode Island Senate. As a lawyer who has spent more than a decade in public service, Stern said that being a judge is something ``I've looked at for a long, long time.'' While the State House rumor mill has been churning for months of his interest in a judicial vacancy, Stern said that he didn't decide until the February legislative break, when he went away on vacation with his wife and family, to apply. He said that he didn't discuss it with the governor, or anyone else in the selection process. Nobody in government knew, he said, until he formally applied. "I'm pleased'' with the Ethics Commission's decision, said Stern. "Now I can allow my application to take its course through the JNC process. This is a many-step process.'' Governor Carcieri "respects the integrity of the Judicial Nominating Commission,'' said his spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, and therefore it would be "premature'' for him to comment on the possibility of having the opporunity to nominate his chief of staff to the bench. Asked if it would be awkward for the governor's staffers to vet his chief of staff, Kempe noted that Stern has taken himself out of the process and that the others in the office would act professionally in reviewing and vetting the qualifications of all judicial candidates the same. "Brian has worked hard to ensure that there isn't a conflict or even the appearance of a conflict,'' she said. This entry first posted at 11:05 a.m. 
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Awesome,
Brian is a very intelligent lawyer who is a champion for the citizens of RI as he proved while he was at DBR.
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