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Andrew Mead
2007 - Present
2028
18
Andrew Mead is a judge of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He assumed office in 2007. His current term ends on June 7, 2028.
Mead was first appointed to the court by Gov. John Baldacci (D) in 2007.[1] He was re-nominated by Gov. Paul LePage (R) in 2014 and again in 2021 by Gov. Janet Mills (D).[2][3][4] To read more about judicial selection in Maine, click here.
Mead served as the acting chief justice of the court from April 14, 2020, following the retirement of Leigh Ingalls Saufley, until June 8, 2021.[5]
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.[6] Mead received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[7] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Mead received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maine in 1973 and his J.D. from the New York Law School in 1976.[8] Prior to his judicial service, Mead worked in private practice at the law firms Paine, Lynch & Weatherbee, and Mitchell & Stearns. He was also the president of the Maine State Bar Association.[9]
Appointments
Maine Supreme Court (2007-present)
Mead was first appointed to the Maine Supreme Court in 2007 by Gov. John Baldacci (D).[9]
Maine Superior Court (1992-2007)
Mead was first appointed to the Maine Superior Court in 1992.[9]
Maine District Court (1990-1992)
Mead was appointed to the Maine District Court in 1990.[9]
Analsysis
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.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- 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
Mead
Maine
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Appointed by a Democratic governor
- State was a Democratic trifecta at time of appointment
Partisan Profile
Details:
Mead was appointed by Gov. John Baldacci (D). At the time of his appointment, Maine was a Democratic trifecta.
Other Scores:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Mead received a campaign finance score of -1.02, indicating a liberal ideological leaning.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Mead received a campaign finance score of -1.02, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -1.01 that justices received in Maine.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[12]
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.[13]
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.[13]
Qualifications
State law requires that supreme court justices be "learned in the law."[14]
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.[13]
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.[13]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Institute for Legal Reform, "Justice System: Maine," accessed July 28, 2021
- ↑ State of Maine, Office of Governor Paul LePage, "Governor LePage Announces Judicial Nominees," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Maine governor swears in 7 judges," March 20, 2014
- ↑ Governor of Maine, "Nominations by the Governor," May 10, 2021
- ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Supreme Court Justices," accessed July 28, 2021
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ University of Maine, "University of Maine 198th Commencement," May 19, 2001
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 New York Law School, "Andrew M. Mead," accessed July 28, 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.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 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
