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Maine Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2019)
 |
|---|
| Hjelm Vacancy Maine Supreme Judicial Court |
| Vacancy date |
| Vacancy status |
| Nomination date |
| January 6, 2020 |
| Table of contents |
|
Selection process About Justice Hjelm |
| See also |
| Recent news External links Footnotes |
On September 20, 2019, Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm was retiring, effective upon the confirmation of his successor.[1][2] Hjelm ultimately retired in December 2019.[3]
On January 6, 2020, Gov. Mills appointed attorney Catherine Connors to succeed Hjelm on the state supreme court. Mills also appointed Maine Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton to succeed Justice Donald Alexander, who retired in January 2020. Connors and Horton were the governor's first and second nominees to the seven-member supreme court.[3]
Under Maine law, when a vacancy occurred on the supreme court, the governor appointed a replacement, dependent on confirmation by the Maine State Senate.
The appointee
- See also: Catherine Connors
At the time of her supreme court appointment, Connors was an appellate lawyer with Pierce Atwood, where she handled civil and criminal litigation matters in federal and state courts. Before joining Pierce Atwood, Connors was a law clerk for Chief Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[4]
Connors obtained her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University in 1981. She earned a J.D., cum laude, from the Northwestern University School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif, in 1984. During her legal studies, Connors was on the editorial board of the Northwestern University Law Review.[4]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Maine
As of December 2019, selection of state supreme court judges in Maine occurred through gubernatorial appointment with Senate confirmation. Whether newly appointed or reappointed, judges served seven-year terms. Appointed judges had to be reappointed if they wished to serve additional terms.[5]
About Justice Hjelm
- See also: Jeffrey Hjelm
Justice Hjelm was nominated to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court by Governor Paul LePage (R) on May 7, 2014, to succeed Jon Levy. Hjelm's appointment was confirmed by the state's Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary on July 24, 2014.[6]
Hjelm previously served on the Knox County Superior Court from 1998 to 2014. He was initially appointed to the superior court by Governor Angus King (I). Hjelm served on the Maine District Courts from 1992 to 1998. He was appointed to the district courts by Governor John McKernan (R).
Hjelm received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and his J.D. from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.[7]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2019
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2019
The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2019. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2020.
| 2019 judicial vacancies filled by appointment | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court | Date of Vacancy | Justice | Reason | Date Vacancy Filled | Successor |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Fred Lewis | Retirement | January 9, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Barbara Pariente | Retirement | January 14, 2019 | Robert J. Luck |
| Florida Supreme Court | January 7, 2019 | Peggy Quince | Retirement | January 22, 2019 | Carlos Muñiz |
| Kentucky Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | Bill Cunningham | Retirement | March 27, 2019 | David Buckingham |
| Mississippi Supreme Court | January 31, 2019 | William Waller | Retirement | December 19, 2018 | Kenny Griffis |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | February 28, 2019 | Mark Martin | Private sector[8] | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley | Apppointed to new post[9] | March 11, 2019 | Mark Davis |
| Arizona Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | John Pelander | Retirement | April 26, 2019 | James Beene |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 10, 2019 | Patrick Wyrick | Elevation to a federal judgeship[10] | November 20, 2019 | Dustin Rowe |
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | April 30, 2019 | John Reif | Retirement | September 17, 2019 | M. John Kane IV |
| Arizona Supreme Court | July 3, 2019 | Scott Bales | Private sector[11] | September 4, 2019 | Bill Montgomery |
| Texas Supreme Court | July 31, 2019 | Jeff Brown | Elevation to a federal judgeship[12] | August 26, 2019 | Jane Bland |
| New Hampshire Supreme Court | August 23, 2019 | Robert Lynn | Retirement | January 7, 2021 | Gordon MacDonald |
| Virginia Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Elizabeth McClanahan | Retirement | February 15, 2019 | Teresa M. Chafin |
| Vermont Supreme Court | September 1, 2019 | Marilyn Skoglund | Retirement | December 5, 2019 | William Cohen |
| Kansas Supreme Court | September 8, 2019 | Lee Johnson | Retirement | December 16, 2019 | Evelyn Z. Wilson |
| Delaware Supreme Court | October 30, 2019 | Leo E. Strine Jr. | Retirement | November 7, 2019 | Collins Seitz Jr. |
| Iowa Supreme Court | November 15, 2019 | Mark Cady | Death | January 28, 2020 | Dana Oxley |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 19, 2019 | Robert J. Luck | Elevation to a federal judgeship[13] | September 14, 2020 | Jamie Rutland Grosshans |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 20, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa | Elevation to a federal judgeship[14] | May 26, 2020 | John D. Couriel |
| Kansas Supreme Court | December 17, 2019 | Lawton Nuss | Retirement | March 11, 2020 | Keynen Wall |
| Maine Supreme Court | December 2019 | Jeffrey Hjelm | Retirement | January 6, 2020 | Catherine Connors |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Thanks Justice Hjelm For His Service," September 20, 2019
- ↑ Sara Reynolds, "Email communication with Press Secretary Lindsay Crete," September 24, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maine.gov, "Governor Mills Nominates Candidates to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court & Superior Court," January 6, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pierce Atwood, "Catherine R. Connors," accessed January 8, 2020
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maine," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Penobscot Bay Pilot, "Camden judge appointed to Maine’s highest court," July 25, 2014
- ↑ Bangor Daily News, "LePage nominates Hjelm to Maine’s high court, Stokes to Superior Court." May 7, 2014
- ↑ Martin left the court to become the dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
- ↑ Beasley was appointed chief justice of the court.
- ↑ Wyrick was confirmed to a seat on the Western District of Oklahoma on April 9, 2019.
- ↑ Bales left the court to become executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.
- ↑ Brown was confirmed to a seat on the Southern District of Texas on July 31, 2019.
- ↑ Luck was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 19, 2019.
- ↑ Lagoa was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 20, 2019.
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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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