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Maine Supreme Court justice vacancy (April 2020)
| Maine Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Saufley vacancy |
| Date: April 14, 2020 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Valerie Stanfill |
| Date: May 10, 2021 |
Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) appointed Valerie Stanfill to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on May 10, 2021.[1] Stanfill was confirmed by the Maine State Senate on June 3.[2] She succeeded Chief Justice Leigh Saufley, who retired on April 14, 2020. Saufley left the court to become the dean of the University of Maine School of Law.[3] Stanfill was Gov. Mills' third nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
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.
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Maine Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2020.
The appointee
- See also: Valerie Stanfill
Valerie Stanfill has served on the Maine Superior Court since February 2020. Stanfill has served as a judge on the Maine District Court from January 2007 to February 2020. Prior to joining the bench, Stanfill's career experience included working as an acting director with the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, as a visiting clinical professor of law with the University of Maine School of Law, and as an attorney in private practice.[1]
Stanfill earned a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College. She graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Maine School of Law.[1]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Maine
At the time of the appointment, selection of state supreme court judges in Maine occurred through gubernatorial appointment with state Senate confirmation. Whether newly appointed or reappointed, judges would serve seven-year terms. Appointed judges had to be reappointed if they wished to serve additional terms.[4]
Makeup of the court
- See also: Maine Supreme Judicial Court
When Saufley left the court, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court included the following members:
| ■ Catherine Connors | Appointed by Gov. Janet Mills (D) in 2020 | |
| ■ Ellen Gorman | Appointed by Gov. John Baldacci (D) in 2007 | |
| ■ Andrew Horton | Appointed by Gov. Mills in 2020 | |
| ■ Thomas Humphrey | Appointed by Gov. Paul LePage (R) in 2015 | |
| ■ Joseph Jabar | Appointed by Gov. Baldacci in 2009 | |
| ■ Andrew Mead | Appointed by Gov. Baldacci in 2007 |
About Chief Justice Saufley
- See also: Leigh Ingalls Saufley
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Saufley was appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on October 20, 1997, by then-Governor Angus King, a political independent. She served as chief justice of the court from 2001 to 2020, being reappointed to the position in 2009 and 2016. When she was first appointed chief justice in 2001, Saufley became the first woman and the youngest member of the court to be appointed to that position.
Before joining the court of last resort, Saufley was a judge of the Maine Superior Court from 1993 to 1997, a judge of the Maine district courts from 1990 to 1993, and an attorney in the Maine attorney general's office.
Saufley graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1976. In 1980, she received her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law.
Other state supreme court appointments in 2020
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2020
The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2020. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2021.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 State of Maine, Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Nominates Justice Valerie Stanfill as Chief Justice of Maine Supreme Judicial Court," May 10, 2021
- ↑ WABI5, "Maine confirms new chief justice for highest court," June 3, 2021
- ↑ Penobscot Bay Pilot, "Maine’s Chief Justice Leigh Saufley to be named dean of University of Maine School of Law," April 9, 2020
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maine," archived October 2, 2014
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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
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