Two lawyers recommended for New Mexico Supreme Court
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August 14, 2012
New Mexico: A judicial nominating commission has wholly recommended two lawyers for the position on the New Mexico Supreme Court left vacant by the impending retirement of Justice Patricio Serna, who will be retiring at the end of August after dedicating 16 years to the five-member court.[1]
Justice Patricio Serna will be honored by the Hispanic National Bar Association and will be receiving a lifetime achievement award on August 25, 2012. He will also be receiving a similar award at a gathering from the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund in San Antonio sometime in September.[2]
Justice Patricio Serna's vacancy came right after the New Mexico primary election in June, therefore, state political parties will be selecting nominees for the general election ballot in November. The winner of the general election will serve until 2016, which is the remainder of Justice Serna's term.[1]
This will be Governor Susana Martinez's first time to be able to name a nominee to the New Mexico Supreme Court and this nominee will serve in the position until the winner of the November general election takes over. The only applicants were Paul Kennedy, a Republican who is a very prominent defense lawyer, and Steven Suttle, a career prosecutor and Democrat who worked for 14 years in the attorney general’s office before his retirement in 2010.[1]
If Governor Martinez chooses Paul Kennedy, he could very possibly have a longer tenure, as he is planning on seeking the GOP nomination for the Supreme Court position.[1]
Steven Suttle has reported that he is not seeking a Democratic nomination, as he wants the governor and the judicial nominating commission to be able to fill the vacancy without giving a possible general election candidate the advantage of running as an incumbent. “I have no agenda here. I have no aspirations to run for this seat. I have no aspirations to ever seek this seat in the future. I have no aspirations to run for any public office or go back into private practice,” Steven Suttle commented to the commission.[1]
Paul Kennedy has had more experience with interim judicial appointments. He served on the New Mexico Supreme Court from September 2002 until that late December the same year the winner of the general election, current Justice Richard Bosson, had taken office. Kennedy had been appointed by former Governor Gary Johnson to fill a vacancy that year created by the retirement of a justice. Kennedy told the commission that, “I think I am probably a better candidate today than I was 10 years ago only because I’ve had 10 years … of more litigation and seen a wider variety of cases.”[1]
There have been at least five Democrats who have stated that they are seeking their party nomination when the state central committee will be meeting on August 25, 2012. Those seeking the nomination include Chief District Judge Barbara Vigil, former U.S. Attorney John Kelly, Workers’ Compensation Administration Judge Victor Lopez, Democratic activist Cate Stetson, who has a background in Indian law, and healthcare law specialist Michelle Hernandez.[1]
It goes without saying that Paul Kennedy will have a big advantage in seeking the GOP nomination at the party meeting on September 8, 2012 if he is appointed by Governor Susana Martinez. Although, it has been duly noted that Republicans have been elected to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, but not to the Supreme Court since 1980.[1]
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