General Assembly elects Mims

Assembly makes fast work of judicial elections

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 15, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Judgeships, Judicial Selection

Lawmakers have set a fast pace during the 2013 term, a short session for the General Assembly. Members of the House and Senate courts committees were quick to get down to business on Jan. 14, when they interviewed judges appointed by the governor or by local courts to seats left vacant at the end of [...]

A new player in judicial elections

By Peter Vieth
Published: December 24, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judge Isaac St. C. Freeman, Judge Junius P. Fulton III, Judge William R. O'Brien, Judicial Selection

There is a new player at the table when it comes to the reelection prospects of judges in Virginia. A child advocacy group based in Tennessee commanded the attention of legislators at judicial interviews earlier this month by citing data in a special report it prepared for the General Assembly and distributed prior to the [...]

Report criticizes Va. judges on child abuse cases

By The Associated Press
Published: December 14, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judge Isaac St. C. Freeman, Judge Junius P. Fulton III, Judge William R. O'Brien, Judicial Selection

Only a small percentage of suspected crimes against children are prosecuted in Virginia, and very few of those cases result in meaningful prison sentences, a child advocacy group says in a new report. The National Association to PROTECT Children sent the report this week to members of two legislative committees that will meet Friday to interview [...]

Powell, McClanahan likely for Supreme Court

By Alan Cooper
Published: July 26, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge D. Arthur Kelsey, Judicial Selection, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Court of Appeals News

Virginia Court of Appeals Judges Cleo E. Powell and Elizabeth A. McClanahan appear to be set to move up to the Supreme Court of Virginia under an agreement between House Democrats and Senate Republicans. The General Assembly will convene Friday to elect the judges, and House Courts Chairman David Albo, R-Fairfax, said the agreement includes [...]

Gibney appears before Senate committee for Richmond seat

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 3, 2010
Tags: Judicial Selection

Richmond lawyer John A. Gibney was well received in a brief appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday afternoon in his quest for a federal judgeship in Richmond. Gibney appeared to benefit from the greater interest of committee members in U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny from Connecticut whom President Obama has nominated for a [...]

VSB, other groups endorse federal candidates

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 23, 2010
Tags: Judicial Selection, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar

(UPDATED 4/26/10 9:47 a.m.)The Virginia State Bar’s judicial nominating committee has found 12 candidates to be highly qualified for pending U. S. District Court vacancies in Virginia – eight for a Western District seat and four for a slot in the Eastern District. The candidates in the Western District are: – State Sen. John S. [...]

Two more seek federal seat in Eastern District

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 2, 2010
Tags: Judicial Selection, Virginia State Bar

Updated and corrected 4/2/10 12:03 p.m. The Virginia State Bar’s judicial nominating committee will consider two more candidates for a federal judgeship in Norfolk, in part because only two candidates had expressed interest by the VSB’s March 22 deadline. The vacancy will be created in November when Judge Jerome B. Friedman takes senior status. One [...]

Budget reflects judicial attrition of next two years

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 2, 2010
Tags: General Assembly, Judicial Selection

The effect of the freeze on filling judicial vacancies in district and circuit courts may well be even bleaker than it first appeared. The judiciary budget adopted by the General Assembly reflects an expectation that the system will have almost 20 percent fewer judges on July 1, 2012, than it had in January 2010. Karl [...]

Nine seek federal seat in the Western District, only two in East

By Alan Cooper
Published: March 24, 2010
Tags: Judicial Selection, Virginia State Bar

An open seat on the federal bench in the Western District has attracted far more interest that a spot in the Eastern District that will open in November. At least nine candidates have expressed interest in succeeding U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon of Lynchburg, who has taken senior status. Only two people have spoken [...]