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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Courts - News of other states' Supreme and Appeals Court judges

These is a lot of news today about appellate judges in other states.

Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, who ILB readers may recall was barely retained in 2005 and she and another justice were up for retention, attributed to voter backlash at a legislative pay raise, is resigning for, some might say, a better job, or at least a better paying job. Here are some quotes from the lengthy report via Law.com. Some quotes:

Ending months of speculation, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman has confirmed to The Legal that she will leave the bench at the end of the year and return to private practice as an appellate attorney.

Beginning in January, the first woman elected to the state's top court will head the appellate practice group at Philadelphia-based Cozen O'Connor, where her brother is a partner.

"I love appellate work -- never knew I would, as a matrimonial lawyer," Newman said in an interview Friday.

Firm Chairman Stephen Cozen said he has "no doubt that [Newman] will be making rain for Cozen O'Connor." * * *

Newman -- who at 68 would have hit mandatory retirement age in about two years -- did acknowledge that the events surrounding her fall 2005 retention race did play a role in her decision.

Anger over that summer's pay-raise affair had only increased by November 2005, particularly among voters in the central part of the state, and Newman and Nigro -- who was also running for a second 10-year term -- wound up raising and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a category of state elections historically devoid of big money and high drama.

Ultimately, Nigro was defeated by 51 percent of the vote, the first time a sitting Pennsylvania justice has not been retained in an election. Newman was retained by a relatively slim majority of 54 percent.

About a month before the election, Newman's husband, Julius, a renowned cosmetic surgeon, died following a lengthy illness.

As late as two weeks before the election, Newman had done virtually no campaigning.

Then she got a visit from her politically savvy son Jonathan, who is of counsel at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel's Philadelphia office and also serves as chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

"My son called me like 10 days before [the election], and he said, 'You've got to [start campaigning]; if Daddy were here, he would kick your ass and make you do it,'" Newman said.

Newman raised, then spent, roughly $320,000 in the week before the election, according to campaign finance and expense reports filed with the state.

Newman said she believes the backlash against the court in the wake of the pay raise -- including criticism of the court's handling of the ensuing litigation -- has affected the collective spirit of the court.

"Nobody talks about it, but I think it has," she said.

Newman said that when she joined the court some 11 years ago, the members of its bench were particularly wary of the media in the wake of the Rolf Larsen scandal.

A similar apprehension toward the media has returned to the court as a result of the pay raise affair, she said.

"There's nothing [a justice] can say [to the media] that's right anymore, as far as I'm concerned," Newman said, adding later, "No matter what we say, it gets twisted."

Florida. From the St. Petersburg Times, a story headlined "Chief appeals judge steps down," includes these quotes:
TALLAHASSEE - Florida's largest appellate court has quietly replaced its chief judge amid internal rancor and suggestions of political influence surrounding the bribery conviction and prison sentence of former Sen. W.D. Childers.

Charles J. Kahn Jr., elected in 2005 to head the 1st District Court of Appeal for two years, resigned the chief judge's job last month in the face of a revolt by fellow judges.

A formal complaint alleging misconduct has been lodged against Kahn, documents obtained Friday by the St. Petersburg Times indicate.

In a written opinion denying Childers' appeal of his bribery conviction, another judge suggested that the public might conclude that Kahn was trying to reverse Childers' conviction as a political favor.

Connecticut. "A Reputation Stained: Review Council Punishes Former Chief Justice For Delaying Opinion, A First In Judicial History" is the headline to this story today in the Hartford Courant. The lengthy story by Lynne Tuohy begins:
For former Chief Justice William J. Sullivan, the harshest sanction Friday wasn't a 15-day suspension for holding up the release of a controversial ruling to help a colleague succeed him as chief justice.

It was the notoriety of being the first judge in the nation ever to be disciplined for holding up release of an opinion.

It was the ugly blot on an otherwise unblemished judicial career of 28 years that threatens to overshadow many remarkable accomplishments.

As he faced the 12-member Judicial Review Council just after 6 p.m. Friday to learn his fate, Sullivan appeared deflated, in contrast to the normally robust former chief justice. There would be five verdicts - one for each of the charges the council lodged against him in July.

As this story from the Connecticut Post puts it:
It found him guilty of improperly delaying the release of a controversial court case in an attempt to assist the nomination of Associate Justice Peter T. Zarella, who was Gov. M. Jodi Rell's nominee to succeed Sullivan as chief justice.

The council also found "clear and convincing evidence" that Sullivan manipulated the system "without any legitimate purpose" other than to boost Zarella, because he had a "personal, or other relationship" with Zarella, who withdrew his nomination in April after the judiciary scandal became public.

[Thanks to How Appealing for some of these links.]

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 18, 2006 12:12 PM
Posted to Courts in general