ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702240110
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: LAURA LAFAY AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
Republican Gov. George Allen will fill the open slot on the Virginia Supreme Court because members of the General Assembly were unable Saturday to do it themselves.
In a day marked by partisan scheming and parliamentary ambush, the lawmakers ended their 1997 session with a sense of bitterness and no new judge. If politics continue to thwart judicial appointments next year, some legislators predict, Virginia will be forced to find a new way of picking judges.
"If there's ever been any question about whether Virginia needs a better system of selecting judges, just look at the spectacle we have here today," said Sen. William Bolling, R-Hanover County.
"You shouldn't have to barter to pick a member of the Supreme Court; you should consider qualifications. That hasn't even come up."
The Virginia constitution decrees that judges be elected by the General Assembly. For decades, the Democrat-dominated body made its decisions behind closed doors, awarding judgeships to cronies and former legislators with no discernible bickering.
But all that changed in 1995, when the Senate was split 20-20. Now the Senate has veto power over appointments. Last year, six judgeships went unfilled because Republicans and Democrats could not agree on candidates. This year, six more slots remain empty.
But the most glaring - and significant - vacancy is the Supreme Court judgeship. With the retirement of Justice Roscoe Stephenson, observers say, the state's seven-member high court is evenly divided between old-school jurists bent on preserving established law, and newer, less rigid judges. The new appointment will substantially shape the direction of the court.
Republicans wanted a conservative. Democrats wanted someone moderate. Caught in the middle Saturday were two nominees: Richmond District Judge Margaret Spencer and Wiley Mitchell, a former Republican state senator who is now a corporate lawyer for Norfolk Southern Corp.
So wed to their candidates were the two political parties that they spent much of Friday in recess, pleading for converts. Other business - like the state budget and about 70 proposed laws - had to wait.
"Actually, direct election of judges would be better than this," commented Petersburg Democrat Del. Jay DeBoer.
"This process is broken. We've disagreed before about philosophy and individuals, but ... this is the first time it's been purely partisan."
At one point, Senate Republicans figured out they had enough votes to elect Mitchell, but Democratic senators refused to even enter the chamber and take their seats. Republicans scrambled throughout the capitol in search of Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, the Senate's presiding officer, to demand that he call the Senate to order and take a vote. But Beyer, a Democrat, could not be found.
Two minutes before a 3 p.m. deadline imposed by the House, Democrats entered the Senate; Mitchell won the chamber's nomination with 24 votes.
But as Sen. Joseph Benedetti, R-Richmond, rushed to the House with the results, House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton rushed past him to tell the Senate it was too late - no more votes would be considered.
In the end, afraid of appearing obstructionist, the House allowed a vote. The Mitchell nomination fell on party lines: 54 to 46.
After it was over, Del. George Heilig, D-Norfolk, shook his head.
"Don't watch sausage being made, and don't watch judges being elected," he advised.
Allen will ask Secretary of the Commonwealth Betsy Beamer to begin collecting nominations and applications for the judgeship Monday, said his spokeswoman Julie Overy. She did not know how long the process would take, but said Allen did not feel a need to act immediately.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB