THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
The harmony of the 1996 General Assembly session soon may be shattered by a House-Senate brawl over the selection of judges.
The brewing fight features Senate Republicans eager to exercise their newfound voice in selecting judges and House Democrats anxious to hold onto their most cherished prerogative.
Republicans vow to gum up the judicial selection process until they receive assurances that the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates will not blackball Senate nominees out of partisan spite.
The standoff has the potential to turn traditional House-Senate jostling during the final days of the legislative session into full-blown gridlock.
``This has got the looks of a real donnybrook,'' observed Sen. Madison E. Marye, a 23-year veteran from Montgomery County. ``No one knows what will happen because this is something we have never experienced before.''
The Senate - with 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans - has embraced cooperation out of necessity.
But the Democrat-controlled House still has a winner-take-all system that effectively shuts out Republicans when picking judges.
The Assembly will try to fill nine judicial vacancies - including a juvenile and domestic relations judgeship in Virginia Beach and one in the New River Valley - by the time of adjournment March 9.
House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk reiterated Tuesday that just because the Senate changed its rules does not mean the House has to do the same.
``Why is their position sacrosanct and ours not?'' Moss asked.
On Monday, Republicans aired their fears about partisan mischief before the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
``We're all chopping a new log here. We're trying to figure out where we're going,'' said Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle of Virginia Beach.
Stolle suggested this scenario: The House and Senate could agree on a slate of nominees to be put before both chambers. Senate rules call for the entire slate to be approved in a single vote. The House votes on each judge individually - giving the lower chamber the opportunity to pass its slate and veto Republicans.
Democratic Sen. Richard L. Saslaw replied that such a scenario would be so provocative as to destroy the sometimes fragile trust between the two chambers. ``There would never be a vote on a judge here again - ever,'' Saslaw said.
Republicans were unmoved. ``We want assurances,'' Stolle said.
Tuesday, House Democratic Leader C. Richard Cranwell said GOP fears were unfounded.
``These guys are seeing too many ghosts and goblins,'' Cranwell said. ``I'm easy to get along with this year; I'll do whatever they want.''
But GOP lawmakers point to recent statements that make it clear that House Democrats will not allow the Senate to seat Republican judges. Portsmouth Del. Kenneth R. Melvin was quoted as boasting that Democrats would ``kick their butts off'' the bench.
Moss said essentially the same thing Tuesday when discussing the possibility that a stalemate could allow Republican Gov. George F. Allen to fill some Circuit Court vacancies. He noted that the Assembly would have to confirm any Allen-appointed judges next year.
``I would suggest that any judge he appoints should not give up his (law office) lease,'' Moss quipped.
Moss had wanted to hold a vote today to fill five judicial vacancies. But Republicans blocked the move. It takes a two-thirds majority in each chamber to suspend the rules and act before March 8, the scheduled date for voting on judges.
GOP lawmakers vowed they would continue to throw up parliamentary roadblocks to postpone votes.
``We have the ability to reconcile the issues, and we want to try to reconcile them,'' Stolle said.
But Moss said he was not troubled by the prospect of a stalemate leaving the Assembly unable to reach an agreement on judges.
If the legislature did not act, Juvenile and General District court vacancies would be filled by the area's chief circuit judge. Allen would fill Circuit Court vacancies.
``We have enough judges in each circuit that the commonwealth would not be any worse off if some of these vacancies went unfilled for few months,'' Moss said. ILLUSTRATION: BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle of Virginia Beach wants assurances that
judicial selection will be fair. ``We're all chopping a new log
here,'' he told the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Monday.
``We're trying to figure out where we're going.''
KEYWORDS: JUDGESHIPS APPOINTMENT GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB