ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
LEGISLATORS LINE UP by party when filling judicial benches. Republicans want to put former Salem Del. Steve Agee on Virginia's Supreme Court today.
Virginia's state lawmakers will find out today just how much cooperation they can stand.
At stake are those most cherished and powerful prizes of Virginia political life - judicial appointments. The General Assembly is scheduled today to select judges to fill seats around the state, from the small juvenile courts up to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
So coveted are the judgeships that disagreements over them threaten to stall the entire lawmaking process.
Republicans in the Senate, with their new-found sway over judicial selection, are steadfastly backing a Republican for the Supreme Court and two candidates in lesser courts. Democrats are stubbornly sticking to their own candidates.
As of Thursday night, neither party would budge.
Without some agreement by this afternoon, the Senate and House of Delegates could be locked in perpetual discord, unable to reach a consensus and unable to take up any other business under their rules of procedure.
That threat - holding hostage the hundreds of bills and resolutions still on the General Assembly's agenda - is just one of the complex twists in Virginia's untested system of selecting judges.
And while few legislators predict an all-out deadlock, none are willing to discount the possibility entirely.
``If we can't get the kind of qualified candidate we want, I don't think there will be any rush,'' said Spotsylvania Sen. Edd Houck, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Said Virginia Beach Sen. Kenneth Stolle, a Republican: ``No one is exactly sure what will happen, really.''
Republicans control half the Senate's 40 seats, and, as such, can disqualify any candidate their Democratic colleagues select. Lt. Gov. Don Beyer can break a tie for the Democrats in most other cases, but judges require 21 Senate votes to be selected. This year, Republicans have been casting only 19 votes on such measures, avoiding a tie for Beyer to break.
Senate Republicans have selected as their Supreme Court nominee former Salem delegate Steve Agee, a moderate whom they hoped might attract a vote from Democrats.
But the Democrats are pushing for Richmond District Judge Margaret P. Spencer, a candidate considered too liberal for the Republicans' tastes.
The House and Senate will begin picking judges simultaneously this afternoon. Both sides say they have a list of alternative candidates, but are unsure if any can suit the other.
The judges represent a chance for the state's 140 elected leaders to weave their political ideology into the fabric of Virginia's legal system. The Supreme Court opening could tilt the conservative balance of a panel that has racked up a host of important 4-3 decisions.
Judgeships also are among the most prized gifts of political patronage. This year's list of prospective judges is rife with former legislators, their law partners and other attorneys closely allied to Virginia politics.
One Republican nominee today will be Greg Baker, the law partner of Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County. Baker is seeking a juvenile court seat in far Southwestern Virginia.
If the Democrats refuse to rubber-stamp Baker, the selection will fall to the three circuit judges in the district of Republican Sen. William Wampler Jr., R-Bristol.
But that doesn't mean Wampler won't have a say. He has threatened to kick one of those circuit judges off the bench today and a second said Wampler called him to solicit his vote for Baker.
The only remaining circuit judge in Wampler's district owns 192 acres in Lee County that the Department of Corrections is considering as the site for a new prison. Lee County officials have bought a $900,000 option for the property, expecting the state to pay if the prison project is approved. Wampler has pushed the prison as an economic development opportunity.
Republicans acknowledge that they have pushed for ``Republican'' judges. But they say they cannot be accused of breaking their promise for ``merit'' appointments because the process - at least in the House - has a partisan tinge.
``As long as we have this flawed system, we are playing with the rules of this flawed system,'' said Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. ``It's not like we're not doing what we said we would do. They won't let us.''
``Once we're in control, you can blame us for the process,'' said Del. John Rollison, R-Prince William County.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Agee. color. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB