Virginia Supreme Court justice vacancy (September 2019)
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| McClanahan Vacancy Virginia Supreme Court |
| Vacancy date |
| Vacancy status |
| Nomination date |
| February 14, 2019 |
| Table of contents |
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Selection process About Justice McClanahan |
| See also |
| Recent news External links Footnotes |
Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth McClanahan retired on September 1, 2019.[1] Under Virginia law, the Virginia General Assembly selected the justices of the supreme court. The Republican-controlled Virginia General Assembly chose Teresa M. Chafin as a successor. At the time of the appointment, Republicans held a 21-19 majority in the Senate and a 51-49 majority in the House.[2][3]
To read more about other state supreme court vacancies across the country that are filled by appointments, click here.
The appointee
- See also: Teresa M. Chafin
On February 14, 2019, the Virginia General Assembly appointed Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Teresa M. Chafin to succeed McClanahan. The Senate voted 36-0 and the House voted 97-0. Chafin joined the state supreme court on September 1, 2019.[3][4]
Chafin served on the Virginia Court of Appeals from May 2012 to August 2019. She was a judge on the 29th Judicial Circuit from 2005 to 2012. She was also a judge on the Tazewell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court from 2002 to 2005.[5]
Chafin received her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1987.[6]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Virginia
At the time of the vacancy, selection of state supreme court justices in Virginia occurred through legislative selection.[7] As outlined in Article VI of the Virginia Constitution, judges were selected by a majority vote of the Virginia General Assembly (the combined House of Delegates and Senate). Supreme court justices served for twelve years and were subject to reappointment to additional terms by the legislature.[8]
As of January 2019, Virginia was one of only two states in the country, the other being South Carolina, where judges were selected this way.[9][10]
At the time the vacancy was filled, Republicans controlled with Senate with a 21-19 majority and the House with a 51-49 majority.
Makeup of the court
At the time of the vacancy, the makeup of the court was as follows:
Four justices–McClanahan, Powell, Goodwyn, and Mims–on the court were selected by a General Assembly with a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House. However, Republicans held a majority in the General Assembly overall. Justices Powell and Mims were selected when Republicans had a 77-61 majority. Justice Goodwyn was appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine (D) in 2007, while the legislature was out of session, and approved by the 74-63 Republican-majority General Assembly in 2008. Justices Lemons, Kelsey, and McCullough were selected by a General Assembly with Republican control of both chambers.
About Justice McClanahan
- See also: Elizabeth McClanahan
McClanahan was a justice on the Virginia Supreme Court from 2011 to 2019. She was selected to the position by the Virginia General Assembly on July 29, 2011. She retired September 1, 2019.[11][2] She served on the Virginia Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2011. McClanahan obtained a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1984.
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. McClanahan received a campaign finance score of 0.88, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.11 that justices received in Virginia.
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[12] | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley |
| North Carolina Supreme Court | March 1, 2019 | Cheri Beasley | Apppointed to new post[13] | 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[14] | 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[15] | September 4, 2019 | Bill Montgomery |
| Texas Supreme Court | July 31, 2019 | Jeff Brown | Elevation to a federal judgeship[16] | 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[17] | September 14, 2020 | Jamie Rutland Grosshans |
| Florida Supreme Court | November 20, 2019 | Barbara Lagoa | Elevation to a federal judgeship[18] | 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
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Supreme Court Justice McClanahan to retire," January 25, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan announces Sept. 1 retirement," January 25, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Roanoke Times, "Judge Teresa Chafin, sister of Sen. Ben Chafin, elected to Virginia Supreme Court," February 15, 2019
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "General Assembly elects Judge Teresa Chafin to Va. Supreme Court after brother backs her bid," February 14, 2019
- ↑ The Virginia Lawyers Weekly Blog, "Chafin sworn in for Court of Appeals," June 19, 2012
- ↑ Martindale, "Judge Profile: Teresa M. Chafin," accessed September 2, 2015
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Virginia," archived June 8, 2011
- ↑ Virginia's Legislative Information System, "Constitution of Virginia," accessed September 19, 2014 (Scroll to Article VI)
- ↑ University of Richmond Law Review, "Reconsidering Virginia Judicial Selection," November 2008
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "History of Reform Efforts: Virginia," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "House, Senate elevate two appellate judges to Supreme Court; one is first black female justice," July 29, 2011
- ↑ 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:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia
State courts:
Virginia Supreme Court • Virginia Court of Appeals • Virginia Circuit Courts • Virginia District Courts • Virginia Magistrates
State resources:
Courts in Virginia • Virginia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Virginia
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