Four years ago the state shook up its judicial selection process by ditching its old system in favor of a new method billed as more open, more fair. No longer would trial judges be nominated by the governor. Now, district, family, workers’ compensation, Superior and Supreme Court judges would be selected by a nine-member commission. Three to five candidates would be chosen for each opening, from which the governor would choose one. The Senate would confirm his choice.
The change came after a grass-roots effort championed by the late Superior Court Judge William M. Mackenzie. It led to a 1994 law that created the Judicial Nominating Commission system. A later constitutional amendment allowed the commission to screen Supreme Court candidates. The state has selected judges under the new system now for four years. And the commission, formerly headed by Michael A. Kelly, whose term expired this year, now has a new chairman: Robert Corrente, a partner and a member of the litigation department of the Providence firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Corrente — appointed chairman by Gov. Lincoln Almond Oct. 5 — is overseeing a work in progress. In its early days the commission labored to fill a back-load of unfilled openings and struggled with unprecedented situations. But Corrente believes the process works well, and has led to a rise in public confidence in the selection process.
“It’s a more open system,” Corrente said. “Everyone has to go through the same process.”
It’s a rather rigorous process. Judicial openings are advertised in newspapers and at bar associations throughout the state. Those interested submit applications, including financial disclosures and letters of recommendation. When the applications are in, the commission meets to decide whom it will interview.
The state police and the discipline council probe each candidate’s background. Then, the commission advertises public comment hearings in which the public may speak on each candidate. Letters are also accepted. Finally, the commission — five lawyers, four non-lawyers — meets in executive session to discuss each candidate’s fitness for office. Returning to a public session, it votes until it agrees on three to five candidates.
The commission looks for experienced lawyers. It considers public service. It considers each candidate’s interviews. But it also looks for something else: judicial temperament.
Judicial temperament
“You can’t put into words what judicial temperament is,” Corrente said.
“You want people to be fair and even-handed, but at the same time able to make a decision, because that’s what judges have to do.”
The new system has its critics. In a Sept. 28 interview, District Court Judge Robert K. Pirraglia told Providence Business News he preferred the old system — which mirrored the federal selection process — in which the governor nominated judges. If a bad judge got into the system, Pirraglia reasoned, the public could vote out the governor. Under the new system, the governor must select from the commission’s choice of candidates. The commission’s legislation outlines a procedure by which the governor and legislative leaders appoint commission members. But Corrente notes that the change came only after much discussion and a consensus that the state needed a change. He added that selecting candidates is a great deal of work — all of it unpaid. While it is difficult to generalize how many applications the commission receives for each opening, Corrente said it would not be unusual for it to receive 30 to 35 applications.
“I think what carried the day for the (new) system is that we can make the process more open, and we can ensure that every candidate will be subjected to the same process,” he said. But he added: “This is very new. We’re working on it as we go.”
No stranger to judges
As someone who has spent a lot of time litigating cases, Corrente is no stranger to what being a judge entails. The public perception, he said, is often that judges simply hear cases. But the reality is different. Stacks of materials and conferences with lawyers await the judge after his or her last hearing of the day, he said.
“It’s not an easy job. There are a lot of days when a lot of lawyers wonder why anyone would want to be a judge,” he said. “It’s an awful lot more work than anyone imagines looking from the outside.”
Which is what make the commission’s work important. Though the commission is evolving under a new system, its basic function will not change, Corrente said.
“It’s our job to get to the governor the best list of (candidates),” he said. “And whatever we need to do to make that happen is what we’re going to do.”
