ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140037
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
VIRGINIA lawmakers of both parties aren't exactly bathing themselves in glory over the matter of appointments to the state's judiciary.
For years, Democrats exercised a monopoly in naming judges to Virginia courts at all levels. Their accusing the Republicans now of politicizing the process is the pot calling the kettle black.
And for years, the Republicans were the party of reform, urging the General Assembly to adopt a fairer, nonpolitical method for choosing judges in the state. In acting every bit as political as the opposition now that they've achieved 20-20 parity in the state Senate, the Republicans are forfeiting previous claims to holding the judicial-selection high ground.
But the biggest loser in all this is not the pols, Democrat or Republican. The biggest loser is public confidence in the judicial system.
Consider, for example, the state Supreme Court seat soon to become vacant due to the retirement of Justice Roscoe W. Stephenson Jr. of Covington. Former Republican Del. Steve Agee of Salem apparently is out; the Democrats won't support him. Former Democratic Del. Bernard Cohen of Alexandria apparently is out; the Republicans won't support him.
If a compromise is forthcoming, the choice may well prove worthy. But however well-qualified he or she turns out to be, confidence in the quality of the selection will have been diminished by the partisan noise that has surrounded the process.
Meanwhile, two GOP senators - William Wampler Jr. of Bristol and Russell Potts of Winchster - want to deny reappointment to several Democrat-appointed judges in their districts. Wampler's Far Southwest district is in a region that's historically a hotbed of political patronage. Potts' target is a Clarke County circuit judge who in 1994 denied Oliver North a renewal of his concealed-weapon permit when North was the GOP's U.S. Senate nominee.
Both senators say they've received numerous complaints about the judges in question. But if the complaints have substance, why not refer them to the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission? The commission isn't perfect - for one thing, it's too secretive - but its decisions have the virtue of being untainted by suspicion of partisan political motive.
The answer to the issue of partisan politics in judicial selection is not more partisan politics. The answer is what Virginia Republicans of an earlier era called for - a merit system for naming judges.
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB