Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 6, 1992 TAG: 9201060108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
EX-SENATOR WANTS TO BE JUDGE
The General Assembly hasn't heard the last of one of its most outspoken and controversial figures, Sen. William Fears. Unseated by voters in November, Fears now wants to be a Circuit Court judge on his native Eastern Shore."The main reason I want it is I want to [be] a model judge for Virginia," said Fears, a lawyer who logged 24 years in the assembly before losing his seat to Republican Thomas Norment.
Fears has thrown his shingle into the ring to replace Judge Wescott Jacob, who plans to retire April 1.
At 71, Fears is four years older than Jacob. But the former lawmaker sees no problem with that. "I don't want to go off somewhere and die, you know. I've got some good years left. I get up and jog my two miles every morning. Or every other morning."
There is no age cap for judges in Virginia; Harry Carrico, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, was 75 when he was appointed to a new 12-year term last year.
Fears made his ambitions known at home and in Richmond just before Christmas, sending letters to legislators and seeking support from Eastern Shore lawyers.
This ambition may have a better chance than Fears' last project: Soon after losing to Norment, Fears failed to get the assembly to redraw the 1st Congressional District in an effort to thwart Republican U.S. Rep. Herbert Bateman and open a seat for himself.
Moving to the bench is a common route for former lawmakers. As a Democrat who once sat on the Senate committee that recommends judges, Fears will have automatic stature as a candidate.
Not everyone is thrilled by the prospect.
"Oh, no! No, we can't have that," said Brenda Vaccarelli, founder of the Peninsula chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Fears drew MADD's ire last year when he complained in the Senate that new legislation would "take all the sport out of drinking and driving." He later insisted the remark was made in jest.
"I'd do everything I could" to keep him from taking the bench, Vaccarelli said.
Fears has two rivals so far for the judgeship, both longtime Eastern Shore lawyers in their 50s. One, Glen Tyler, appears to have the early support of the local bar association, which will vote this week on which candidate to endorse.