THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210867
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 104 lines
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.
But 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 is willing to discount that 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. Edward Houck, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Said Virginia Beach Sen. Kenneth W. 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. Donald S. Beyer Jr. can break a tie for the Democrats in most other cases, but judges require 21 Senate votes to be selected. This year, Republicans have begun 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 Steven Agee, a moderate whom they hoped might attract a vote from Democrats.
But the Democrats are pushing Richmond district court 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 both parties.
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 Republican Del. Terry Kilgore who is seeking a juvenile court seat in far southwestern Virginia.
If the Democrats refuse to rubberstamp Baker, the selection will fall to the three circuit judges in the district of Republican Sen. William Wampler.
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 a 192-acre property in Lee County that the Department of Corrections is considering as the site for a new prison. Lee County officials have purchased a $900,000 option for the property, expecting the state to pay the money if the prison project is approved. Wampler has pushed the prison as an economic development opportunity.
Another Democratic judge under fire is James L. Berry, the Circuit Court judge in Clarke County who revoked Oliver L. North's concealed weapon permit three months before the 1994 U.S. Senate race North lost. Democrats say they will renominate Berry, but Senate Republicans are threatening a fight.
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 A. Rollison III, R-Woodbridge.
Some House Democrats have begun to accept the new reality that they will have to negotiate with their Republican colleagues - or forfeit the appointment. The governor fills vacancies at the circuit, appeals and Supreme Court levels.
Last year, for instance, Democratic Del. William P. Robinson Jr. of Norfolk said he would never consider sharing power in judicial appointments. ``You either have power or you don't,'' he said.
This year, Robinson came around to huddling with Republican lawmakers to discuss filling a General District Court judgeship in Virginia Beach.
After his first choice fell through, Robinson agreed to the selection of Pamela Albert, a prosecutor who works for the city's Republican commonwealth's attorney.
``It's a reality,'' said Robinson, who represents 8,000 people in Virginia Beach. ``There's not much virtue for someone to be nominated in the House only to have there be a stalemate in the Senate.
``Whatever we do, we have to reach an accommodation with them.'' MEMO: Staff writers Laura LaFay and David M. Poole contributed to this
report.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE SUPREME COURT JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS