The VLW Blog

The Associated Press reports today that President Barack Obama plans to nominate  U.S. District Judge Andre Davis of Baltimore for one of four vacancies on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If Davis were to become the 12th judge on the court, it would be split evenly between Republican and Democratic appointees. The Associated Press [...]

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John V. Cogbill III has told the Richmond-area legislative delegation that he will not accept his appointment to the circuit court bench in Chesterfield and Colonial Heights. Cogbill is managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Richmond office and very highly regarded for his expertise in land use and other real estate matters. He’s also a member of [...]

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The reappointment or election of 24 judges and two members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission was the last business of the 2009 General Assembly tonight. Both houses adjourned for the year about 8:45 p.m. after the reappointments and elections. The reappointments were Fairfax Circuit Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr. and the five general [...]

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The House Courts of Justice Committee finally got to see this afternoon the judicial performance evaluations of the first five judges to go through the process and quickly certified them to the full House, which is expected to reappoint them tomorrow. Today was the fourth time the five – General District Judges Timothy Wright and [...]

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Three bar groups have weighed in so far with recommendations for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and an open district court seat in the Eastern District. Here they are, names only. You can check posts here and here for one-phrase descriptions of candidates whose names you might not recognize, and [...]

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A meeting between three members of the House Courts of Justice Committee and three members of the Supreme Court of Virginia appears to have defused – but hardly eliminated – animosity over the judicial performance evaluation program. At the meeting on Tuesday, Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. agreed to withdraw an order that limited [...]

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The proposal to transfer control of the judicial performance evaluation program from the Supreme Court of Virginia died last night in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on a 9-6 vote. The House had approved the measure on a 49-48 vote. Sen. Ken T. Cuccinelli II, R-Fairfax, and most of the Republican on the committee [...]

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The House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees will interview tomorrow Chief Deputy Attorney General William C. Mims, who is expected to be elected to fill Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell’s unexpired term, and candidates for more than 25 judicial vacancies. The committees must certify candidates as being qualified before they can be considered for [...]

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The House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees will interview a sixth candidate tomorrow for a Virginia Court of Appeals vacancy – Prince William County Circuit Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. A member of the Prince William delegation, Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, asked the committee staff to invite Alston to the session that had [...]

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An Easy button on his bench. A bobble-head doll in his office with a photo of Chesterfield Circuit Court Clerk Judy Worthington attached to its head. A campaign sign for a board of supervisors candidate on his property. None of those were good ideas, Chesterfield Circuit Judge Timothy J. Hauler acknowledged to a subcommittee of [...]

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