Fairfax Circuit Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr. and Chesterfield County Circuit Judge Timothy J. Hauler were left off the list of incumbent judges and pro tempore appointees given full terms today.
The Northern Virginia delegation had asked the House and Senate Courts of Justice committees to withhold certification of Finch for reappointment until it can give further consideration to his performance.
Domestic relations litigants and a group of parents who opposed a school board plan for redistricting school boundaries have told the delegation that they did not believe that Finch gave their cases the thorough, thoughtful analysis that they thought they deserved.
At a hearing last month, Hauler ran into criticism over an involuntary manslaughter sentencing, a reversal of a custody determination by the Virginia Court of Appeals and the defamation lawsuit he filed against the clerk of the circuit court after she opposed his reappointment eight years ago.
Finch and Hauler may yet be reappointed later in the session when the legislature takes up the appointment of judges to vacancies that will occur this year or ones that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine left open after the legislature was unable to agree on them last year.
The legislature filled one contested seat today by appointing Virginia Beach City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley to a circuit court seat there.
The appointments of Supreme Court Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. and Court of Appeals Judge Cleo E. Powell were withdrawn at the last minute and not considered. Sources said House Democrats want to appoint the successor to Court of Appeals Judge Jean Harrison Clements, who retired at the end of the year, at the same time they elect Millette and Powell.
Judges reappointed or elected today after a pro tempore appointment are:
2nd Circuit: Circuit Judge Edward W. Hanson Jr.; General District Judges Pamela E. Hutchens and Robert L. Simpson Jr.; J&DR Judge Deborah L Rawls
4th Circuit: Circuit Judges John R. Doyle III, Jerrauld C. Jones and Louis A. Sherman; General District Judges Gwendolyn J. Jackson and Bruce A. Wilcox 5th Circuit: Circuit Judge Rodham T. Delk
6th Circuit: J&DR Judge Jacqueline R. Waymack
7th Circuit: General District Judges Alfred O. Masters Jr., Gary A. Mills and Bryant L. Sugg; J&DR Judge Judith A. Kline
8th Circuit: Circuit Judge Louis A. Lerner
9th Circuit: Circuit Judge Samuel T. Powell; General District Judge Colleen K. Killilea; J&DR Judge Isabel H. Atlee
10th Circuit: J&DR Judge S. Anderson Nelson
11th Circuit: Circuit Judge Pamela S. Baskervill; General District Judge James E. Hume
12th Circuit: J&DR Judges Harold W. Burgess Jr. and Edward A. Robbins Jr.
13th Circuit: Circuit Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr.; General District Judges Birdie H. Jamison and Gregory L. Rupe
15th Circuit: Circuit Judges Charles S. Sharp and Harry T. Taliaferro III; General District Judge Michael Levy
17th Circuit: Circuit Judges Benjamin N.A. Kendrick and William T. Newman Jr.; General District Judge Dorothy H. Clarke
18th Circuit: Circuit Judge Donald M. Haddock; J&DR Judge Uley N. Damiani
19th Circuit: Circuit Judges Jan L. Brodie, Jane M. Roush and David
S. Schell; General Distirct Judge William J. Minor Jr.; J&DR Judge Thomas P. Sotelo
20th Circuit: Circuit Judge Jeffrey W. Parker
22nd Circuit: Circuit Judge Joseph W. Milam Jr.; J&DR Judge Stacey W. Moreau
23rd Circuit: Circuit Judge James R. Swanson; General District Judges J. Christopher Clemens and Jacqueline F. Ward Talevi; J&DR Judge Philip Trompeter
24th Circuit: Circuit Judge J. Leyburn Mosby Jr.; J&DR Judge William R. Light
26th Circuit: Circuit Judge James V. Lane; General District Judge David S. Whitacre
27th Circuit: General District Judge Gino W. Williams; J&DR Judge Robert C. Viar Jr.
28th Circuit: Circuit Judge C. Randall Lowe
30th Circuit: General District Judge R. Larry Lewis
31st Circuit: Circuit Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr.
By Alan Cooper
2 responses so far ↓
1 Joe // Jan 24, 2009 at 8:11 am
The evaluated five were NOT elected, contrary to their being listed in your post as elected
2 Update on Judge Finch of Fairfax // Feb 20, 2009 at 1:29 pm
[...] Circuit Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr. wasn’t included on the list of judges to be reelected by the General Assembly on Jan. [...]