Supreme Weekly: Headlines in California, Alabama and Virginia

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July 28, 2011

by: Katy Farrell

Virginia Vote pending on new justices

Last week, Governor Bob McDonnell wrote to leaders of the Virginia Legislature to express his displeasure over the vacancies still lingering on the Supreme Court. In the letter, he said, "Since the General Assembly is unable to agree on the selection of judges, I am prepared to perform my constitutional duties and appoint justices to the Virginia Supreme Court and judges to fill the several other trial court vacancies."

Apparently legislators saw the letter as a call to action. Tomorrow they will return to session to finalize the election of two justices to the Supreme Court. Those justices will succeed Leroy Hassell and Lawrence Koontz, who passed away and retired in February of this year.

Candidates for these seats have been all but guaranteed since June at least. Virginia Court of Appeals judges Cleo Powell and Elizabeth McClanahan are expected to join the high court.

To read past coverage of this issue, check out:

• Supreme Weekly: Vacancies and cases, June 2
• Supreme Weekly: Vacancies in California, Virginia and New Jersey, April 7
• Supreme Weekly: This week's news from Virginia, Missouri and Hawaii, February 10

California Governor announces first judicial nominations

This week, Governor Jerry Brown surprised many when he nominated Goodwin Liu to fill a vacancy on the California Supreme Court. The vacancy was left by Carlos Moreno when he retired in February. Liu is an award-winning Professor of Law at the University of California Berkeley and is 40, relatively young for an appointee. The surprise came after major opposition from Republicans in the U.S. Senate stalled and eventually led Liu to withdraw his nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Throughout his confirmation process in 2010 and earlier this year, Senate Republicans decried Liu as being "beyond the mainstream" for his interpretation of Constitutional principles. Two other issues were Liu's disapproval of the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in 2005 and the nominee's age, which would make him eligible for a future U.S. Supreme Court appointment.

The opinion of supporters of the nominee can be summed up in the words of Governor Brown, who said, "Professor Liu is an extraordinary man and a distinguished legal scholar and teacher. He is a nationally-recognized expert on constitutional law and has experience in private practice, government service and in the academic community. I know that he will be an outstanding addition to our state supreme court."

Next, the nomination must be approved by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which is expected easily. That vote will be held on August 31, 2011.

Alabama Circuit clerks ordered to reduce office hours

In what could be one of her last acts of Chief Justice, on Tuesday Sue Bell Cobb ordered circuit court clerks across the state to reduce their office hours open to the public. Cobb recommended that offices reduce their time to conduct public business by ten hours. The extra time will allow circuit clerks to catch up on work, which will increase with one-third of their staffs expected to be laid off in September. The reason for the reduced hours is the state budget, which will cost the judiciary another $16 million starting in October.

However, circuit clerks are reluctant to reduce access that substantially. In counties across the state, clerks are refusing to follow the order, hoping instead to weather the budget storm with hard work.

A similar situation happened in April, when Cobb authorized judges to closes circuit courts one day each week. At that time, judges also resisted her calls to limit access.

See also

• Supreme Weekly: The news in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Missouri
• Judgepedia's Supreme Weekly: The States