DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997          TAG: 9702260006

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   35 lines

PARTISAN DISORDER

Opinions differ on whether Richmond General District Judge Margaret Spencer would have made a good Virginia Supreme Court justice. But the fact that Republicans refused to acquiesce in Spencer's appointment is not a reflection of GOP racism. Democrats should be ashamed for suggesting it.

The rejection of Spencer, who is black, and more than a half-dozen other candidates proposed by Democrats stemmed from partisan politics, not race. Democratic leaders knew that full well. Their willingness to accuse Republicans of racial motivation was cynical.

Even though they are a minority in the 140-member Assembly, Republicans held a trump card in the judicial dispute. And emboldened by decades of pent-up frustration over their exclusion from the judicial-selection process, they were determined to play it.

Their trump card was Republican Gov. George F. Allen. All Republicans had to do was use their 20-20 split in the state Senate to stall selection, and the choice would pass to Allen.

After hours of stalemate and numerous ballots, that is what occurred. Allen's pick will have to be approved by next year's legislature. But civility still counts, even in partisan Virginia. Unless Allen names someone truly offensive to Democratic sensibilities, the choice will probably stand.

The whole episode, including Democratic allegations of racism and the paralysis of the legislature during most of Friday and some of Saturday, is a sorry chapter in the unseemly saga of judicial selection in Virginia.

It is a process by which great power is conferred on a handful of individuals. Lawmakers diminish the process and the judiciary when partisan gamesmanship becomes paramount. Legislators should find a better way. Voters should demand it.

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