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Andrew Horton
2020 - Present
2027
5
Andrew Horton is a judge of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He assumed office on February 4, 2020. His current term ends on February 3, 2027.
Horton was appointed to the court by Gov. Janet Mills (D) on January 6, 2020, to replace Justice Donald Alexander.[1] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Horton received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Horton previously served as a superior court justice for the Cumberland County Superior Court in Maine.[4] He was first appointed in January 2007 by Gov. John Baldacci (D) and renominated in January 2014 by Gov. Paul LePage (R).[5]
Biography
Horton received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1972 and a J.D. Georgetown University in 1977.[6] He worked in private practice for two decades in Portland with a focus on commercial litigation. He began his judicial career in 1999 when he was appointed to the Maine District Court.[7]
Horton also co-authored two legal texts: Do Your Divorce Right and Maine Civil Remedies.[7]
Appointments
2020
- See also: Maine Supreme Judicial Court
On January 6, 2020, Gov. Janet Mills (D) appointed Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton to succeed Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander, who retired in January 2020. Gov. Mills also appointed attorney Catherine Connors to succeed Justice Jeffrey Hjelm, who retired in December 2019. Connors and Horton were the governor's first and second nominees to the seven-member supreme court.[1]
At the time of the appointment, the governor would appoint a replacement who had to be confirmed by the Maine State Senate in the event of a vacancy under Maine law.
2007
- See also: Maine Superior Court
Horton was first appointed to the Maine Superior Court in January 2007 by Gov. John Baldacci (D).
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Andrew
Horton
Maine
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Appointed by a Democratic governor
- State was a Democratic trifecta
Partisan Profile
Details:
Horton donated $1,750 to Democratic candidates and organizations. He was appointed by Gov. Janet Mills (D). Maine was a Democratic trifecta.
State supreme court judicial selection in Maine
- See also: Judicial selection in Maine
The seven justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court are appointed by the governor with confirmation from the Maine State Senate.[10]
Justices serve for seven years after their appointment. To continue to serve on the court, they must be reappointed by the governor and reconfirmed by the Maine State Senate.[10]
Qualifications
State law requires that supreme court justices be "learned in the law."[11]
Chief justice
In Maine, the position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. The chief justice is appointed in the same manner as the other justices on the court.[10]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. The governor appoints a justice with confirmation by the Maine State Senate. The new appointee serves a seven-year term.[10]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maine.gov, "Governor Mills Nominates Candidates to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court & Superior Court," January 6, 2020
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Superior Court Justices," accessed April 23, 2015
- ↑ State of Maine, Office of Governor Paul LePage, "Governor LePage Announces Judicial Nominees," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Martindale, "Judge Profile: Hon. Andrew M. Horton," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Supreme Court Justices," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maine," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "Title 4: Judiciary, Chapter 1: Supreme Judicial Court - §1. Constitution of the court; administrative responsibilities of the court and the Chief Justice," accessed April 3, 2023
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Maine • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Maine
State courts:
Maine Supreme Judicial Court • Maine Superior Court • Maine Business and Consumer Court • Maine District Courts • Maine Family Division • Maine Juvenile Court • Maine Probate Courts • Maine Small Claims Court • Maine Treatment Court
State resources:
Courts in Maine • Maine judicial elections • Judicial selection in Maine
