Rhode Island Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2020)

Rhode Island Supreme Court
Flaherty vacancy
Date: December 31, 2020
Status: Seat filled
Nomination
Nominee: Melissa Long
Date: December 8, 2020

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo (D) nominated Melissa Long to the Rhode Island Supreme Court on December 8, 2020. Long succeeded Justice Francis Flaherty, who retired on December 31, 2020. She was Gov. Raimondo's second nominee to the five-member supreme court.

At the time of the appointment, supreme court justices were selected by the governor with help from a nominating commission and approval from the legislature.

The governor also nominated Erin Lynch Prata on the same date to fill a second vacancy on the state supreme court. Click here for more information about Lynch Prata's nomination. On Twitter, Gov. Raimondo announced that the nominations could result in the court being "majority-female for the first time." The governor also wrote that Long was the "first person of color nominated to serve" on the state supreme court.

Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Rhode Island Supreme Court vacancy:

• An overview of the appointee.
• A list of candidates who applied to the vacancy.
• An overview of the selection process.
• Excerpts from media coverage of the nomination 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: Melissa Long

When she was nominated to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Melissa Long was a judge for the Rhode Island Superior Court. She was appointed to that court by Gov. Raimondo on June 27, 2017, to succeed Patricia A. Hurst. The Rhode Island State Senate confirmed her appointment on September 19, 2017.

Before joining the superior court, Long was deputy secretary of state for the Rhode Island secretary of state. She previously worked as senior legal counsel for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

Long earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from George Mason University.

Appointee candidates and nominations

Applicants

The Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission selected six applicants to interview before submitting recommendations to the governor. The six candidates had also been selected as finalists to replace Justice Gilbert Indeglia, who retired on June 30, 2020. Click here for more information about the process to fill Justice Indeglia's open seat.

• Family Court Judge Laureen D’Ambra
• Superior Court Judge Melissa Long
• Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Montalbano
• Superior Court Judge Kristin E. Rogers
• Rhode Island State Sen. Judiciary Chairwoman Erin Lynch Prata
• Attorney John E. Roberts, a partner in the Proskauer Rose law firm

The selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Rhode Island

At the time of the vacancy, state court judges in Rhode Island were chosen using the assisted appointment method. The five justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court were appointed by the governor with help from the Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission. Supreme court nominees had to be approved by a majority vote of both the state House and the state Senate.

Rhode Island was one of only three states where judges served lifetime terms and of those states, it was the only one without a mandatory retirement age.

Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission

See also: Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission

At the time of the appointment, the Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission oversaw the selection of all judges in Rhode Island. When a vacancy occurred on the state supreme court, the commission called for applications, interviewed candidates it deemed qualified, and conducted background checks. The commission would submit a list of three to five names to the governor, who would submit nominate one candidate to be the next supreme court justice. The candidate had to be confirmed by the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Rhode Island State Senate.

The commission had nine members, four of whom had to be attorneys. Commissioners were appointed by the governor. Five members were selected with input from the speaker of the House, the state Senate president, and the minority leaders of the state legislature. The remaining four were selected solely by the governor.

Commissioners served staggered four-year terms. They could not serve in any other public office, nor could they be appointed to a judicial vacancy while serving on the commission.

Media coverage

This section includes excerpts from articles about the appointment process. Coverage of the process focused on diversity on the court and Rhode Island's law (RI ST § 36-14-5) prohibiting legislators from applying for a state job for one year after serving in the General Assembly. For excerpts on RI ST § 36-14-5, click here.

Diversity on the court

• Click here for media excerpts about diversity on the court.

  • Geoff Schoos, GoLocalProv (September 8, 2020): "Not that they need it, but I lend my support to Senator Sheehan’s and Representative Batista’s and Williams’ call for the selection of a person of color to the Rhode Island Supreme Court. ... Diversifying the court system, especially at its highest level, would send a signal to those often ignored by the broader society that they too count. ...

  My second reason for advocating diversifying the courts is even more important than the first, and that is the power of the judiciary to affect change in our society. As I have written, I have seen firsthand the power of the judiciary to advocate change, and its failure to do so. ...

  The present structure took years to develop and will take years to reform. Change comes hard. But real diversity in the judiciary would be a good first step on that road to change."

  • GoLocalProv News Team, GoLocalProv (June 24, 2020): State Sen. James Sheehan (D-District 36) encouraged colleagues in the state Senate and House to call on the governor to appoint a person of color.

  • Click here to read Sheehan's letter to lawmakers.
    
    

    “

    Dear Fellow Lawmaker: We all swore an oath to support our Rhode Island Constitution. Article III, Section 7 requires public officials adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct. The Ethics Commission’s duty is to investigate and enforce violations of the state code of ethics including conflicts of interest and use of position for personal gain or advantage. On June 2, the Ethics Commission, in my view, failed in its duty when it rejected its own in-house counsel’s advice which clearly held that a sitting legislator could not lawfully seek or be appointed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court. In reaction to the corrupt practice of elected officials using their positions to snag cushy state jobs and judgeships for themselves, family or political allies, the state enacted so-called “revolving door” laws and rules requiring elected officials to wait one year before seeking or accepting state employment. While there are limited exceptions, I, along with in-house counsel and others, am convinced that the code of ethics prohibits sitting legislators from seeking and being appointed to the Supreme Court. I am not writing to dispute the qualities or qualifications of Senator Erin Lynch Prata, an admired and respected colleague. Rather, I am raising a red flag: if the revolving door law is reopened for business, seats on the Supreme Court will become objects of robust political desire and backroom deals by Smith Hill insiders. For all of those wishing to someday serve on the Supreme Court, advantage surely will go to the well-connected as opposed to those most meriting the honor. Inevitably, this will undermine the respect for the high court’s decisions as well as the credibility of the Supreme Court itself. Given the significant reach and impact of the high court’s decisions on our basic liberties and general social order, this prospect should make every Rhode Islander shudder (See: Journal Commentary)! I have asked Governor Gina Raimondo to uphold the letter and spirit of the ethics code by not appointing, if nominated, Senator Erin Lynch Prata to the Supreme Court at this time. Furthermore, if the Judicial Nominating Commission nominates a person of color, the governor should strongly consider appointing him or her to what is now an all-white bench. This appointment would be a great symbolic and substantive act which would serve as a concrete down payment on moving RI down the [long] road toward social equality (See: GoLocalProv reprint of my letter to Governor Raimondo). I thank you for your time. I would ask you to join me in urging the governor to act on principle and uphold the law and answer the calls for social justice by appointing our very first person of color to the RI Supreme Court! Sincerely, Senator James C. Sheehan

    ”

  • State Rep. Joseph Almeida (D-District 12), GoLocalProv (June 11, 2020): "With everything going on today, it is a moral imperative Governor Gina Raimondo name an African American to serve on the Rhode Island Supreme Court. This is something that would go a long way to giving a voice to our minority sisters and brothers.

  At the moment, the Rhode Island Supreme Court is comprised of all white justices with Justice Gilbert Indeglia retiring in January. With this retirement, there will be one vacancy to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and this vacancy should be filled by a minority especially an African American.

  Our courts should be a melting pot of diversity yet we have never had an African American Supreme Court judge. This is something that Ms. Raimondo (whom I supported over the years) needs to rectify. Rhode Island’s minority community needs fair representation on Rhode Island’s highest court, and this is one way to ensure it."

  • Editorial, GoLocalProv (May 4, 2020): "On Friday, State Senator Harold Metts called for a minority to be named to the court. In his letter to Governor Gina Raimondo Metts wrote, 'More than making history, Rhode Island needs to do the right thing. Now is the time to correct this injustice and I urge you to appoint a person of color to this vacant Supreme Court judgeship.' Too often, there is a substantial disconnect between white Rhode Island and the minority community. ... Desegregating the Supreme Court is an important step - and it is long overdue."

  • Ian Donnis, The Public's Radio (April 28, 2020): "The Brennan Center at New York University recently noted that the Rhode Island Supreme Court has never had a justice of color, and has not had a woman appointed in more than 20 years. The only woman on the panel, Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, was appointed in 1997.

  Asked by The Public’s Radio whether she will commit to nominating a person of color, Gov. Gina Raimondo said she would not, although she said she has a strong record of promoting a more diverse judiciary."

Other issues

• Click here for media excerpts about other issues.

  • Edward Fitzpatrick, The Boston Globe (July 2, 2020): "Rhode Island does not elect judges, as many states do. So these candidates must appeal first to the Judicial Nominating Commission, which will pick three to five finalists. They then must try to win over Governor Gina M. Raimondo, who will select her nominee from that list. And finally, the nominee must win confirmation from both the Senate and the House.

  With those audiences in mind, advocates are already making the case for their candidates. ...

  But lobbying for the $189,424-a-year job will only grow more intense as the process unfolds in the months ahead.

  Some of the advocacy will be plainly visible. The Judicial Nominating Commission will interview candidates in public, and two supporters of each candidate will speak at public hearings. Some of it will be less evident, as letters of reference and phone calls will come in from lawyers, judges, business owners, and clergy members extolling the virtues of the candidates.

  'Without a vacancy for a decade, there is pent-up ambition,” Common Cause Rhode Island executive director John M. Marion said. 'Combine that with a high-profile campaign by Senate leadership for one of their own, plus the prospect of the first person of color in history on the high court, and we are going to see unprecedented public pressure for this vacancy.'

  While the outcome would be closely watched at any time, it is attracting added attention amid a national reckoning over race following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

  Rhode Island is one of 12 states that has never had a person of color on its highest court, and three of those states — Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine — now have vacancies on their top courts, according to the Brennan Center for Justice."

  • Katie Mulvaney, Providence Journal (January 18, 2020): "Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Gilbert V. Indeglia’s retirement, planned for June 30, will spur movement in a court that’s seen none over the last decade. And there promises to be more changes ahead with the aging of the judges on the state’s highest court. ... 'This is the beginning of what is likely to be a dramatic change on the court,' Michael Yelnosky, dean of the Roger Williams University School of Law and an avid court-watcher, said this week. 'Given the age of these folks, I would expect to have a significant amount of turnover.'"

Makeup of the court

Justices

See also: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Following Flaherty's retirement, the Rhode Island Supreme Court included the following members:

■ Paul Suttell		Appointed by Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) in 2009
■ Maureen McKenna Goldberg		Appointed by Gov. Lincoln Almond (R) in 1997
■ William Robinson		Appointed by Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) in 2004

About the court

Founded in 1747, the Rhode Island Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Paul Suttell.

As of August 2021, three judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor and two were appointed by a Democratic governor.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court meets on the seventh floor of the Licht Judicial Complex in Providence, Rhode Island. The court hears oral arguments the first week of every month besides the summer months.

In Rhode Island, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.

About Justice Flaherty

See also: Francis Flaherty

Flaherty joined the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2003 after he was appointed by Governor Donald Carcieri (R). Before that, he served on the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education from 1988 to 2003. He was an attorney in private practice from 1990 to 1998. Below is a brief timeline of Flaherty's career:

• 2003-2020: Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court
• 1998-2003: Board of Governors for Higher Education
• 1990-1998: Attorney in private practice
• 1984-1991: Mayor, City of Warwick
• 1978-1985: City councilman, City of Warwick
• 1975-1980: Assistant city solicitor, City of Warwick

Flaherty served in the U.S. Army. He earned a bachelor's degree from Providence College in 1968. He earned a J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School in 1975.

Political ideology

See also: Political ideology of State Supreme Court Justices

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.

Flaherty received a campaign finance score of -0.87, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.50 that justices received in Rhode Island.

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.

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.

2020 judicial vacancies filled by appointment
Court	Date of Vacancy	Justice	Reason	Date Vacancy Filled	Successor
Washington Supreme Court	January 5, 2020	Mary Fairhurst	Retirement	December 4, 2019	Raquel Montoya-Lewis
Maine Supreme Judicial Court	January 2020	Donald Alexander	Retirement	January 6, 2020	Andrew Horton
Illinois Supreme Court	February 2020	Robert Thomas	Retirement	March 1, 2020	Michael J. Burke
Georgia Supreme Court	March 1, 2020	Robert Benham	Retirement	March 27, 2020	Carla W. McMillian
Iowa Supreme Court	March 13, 2020	David Wiggins	Retirement	April 3, 2020	Matthew McDermott
Washington Supreme Court	March 2020	Charles Wiggins	Retirement	April 13, 2020	G. Helen Whitener
Maine Supreme Judicial Court	April 14, 2020	Leigh Saufley	Retirement	May 10, 2021	Valerie Stanfill
Connecticut Supreme Court	May 27, 2020	Richard Palmer	Retirement	July 20, 2020	Christine E. Keller
Alaska Supreme Court	June 1, 2020	Craig Stowers	Retirement	July 1, 2020	Dario Borghesan
Hawaii Supreme Court	June 30, 2020	Richard W. Pollack	Retirement	November 19, 2020	Todd Eddins
Rhode Island Supreme Court	June 30, 2020	Gilbert Indeglia	Retirement	December 8, 2020	Erin Lynch Prata
Minnesota Supreme Court	July 31, 2020	David Lillehaug	Retirement	May 15, 2020	Gordon Moore
California Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Ming Chin	Retirement	November 10, 2020	Martin Jenkins
New Jersey Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Walter F. Timpone	Retirement	June 5, 2020	Fabiana Pierre-Louis
Texas Supreme Court	August 31, 2020	Paul Green	Retirement	October 15, 2020	Rebecca Huddle
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court	September 14, 2020	Ralph D. Gants	Death	November 18, 2020	Kimberly S. Budd
Kansas Supreme Court	September 18, 2020	Carol Beier	Retirement	November 30, 2020	Melissa Standridge
Georgia Supreme Court	November 18, 2020	Keith Blackwell	Retirement	December 1, 2020	Shawn Ellen LaGrua
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court	December 1, 2020	Barbara Lenk	Retirement	November 25, 2020	Dalila Wendlandt
New Mexico Supreme Court	December 1, 2020	Judith Nakamura	Retirement	December 19, 2020	Julie Vargas
Illinois Supreme Court	December 7, 2020	Thomas Kilbride	Was not retained	December 8, 2020	Robert Carter
Rhode Island Supreme Court	December 31, 2020	Francis Flaherty	Retirement	December 8, 2020	Melissa Long
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals	December 31, 2020	Michael Keasler	Retirement	December 21, 2020	Jesse McClure

See also

Rhode Island	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Rhode Island Rhode Island Supreme Court	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Rhode Island	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

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• Rhode Island Supreme Court
• Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission

Footnotes

Rhode Island courts

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Federal courts:

First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Rhode Island • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Rhode Island

State courts:

Rhode Island Supreme Court • Rhode Island Superior Court • Rhode Island District Court • Rhode Island Family Court • Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court • Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal

State resources:

Courts in Rhode Island • Rhode Island judicial elections • Judicial selection in Rhode Island