DATE: Monday, November 10, 1997             TAG: 9711100059

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

JUDICIAL SEATS OPEN AFTER SOME VACATE BENCH S. HAMPTON ROADS APT TO SEE 5 NEW JUDGES.

The annual dance of the judges has begun in Virginia - the political process by which old lawyers become new judges - and South Hampton Roads probably will get five new judges when it is over.

On Friday, the U.S. Senate confirmed a new federal judge for Norfolk. Jerome B. Friedman, who has been a Virginia Beach judge for the past 12 years, will be moving to U.S. District Court.

That will create an opening in Virginia Beach Circuit Court for the first time in five years - an opening that the General Assembly will fill when it meets in January and February.

Friedman's old court seat is one of five state judgeships in South Hampton Roads to be filled in the upcoming legislative session. Three of those seats are in lower courts. Two - Friedman's and that of retiring Norfolk Judge John E. Clarkson - are in Circuit Court.

While it is too early to know who will get the jobs, here is a rundown of which judgeships will open:

Virginia Beach: The last time a seat came open in Virginia Beach Circuit Court, it was 1992. Democrats controlled the General Assembly and the Beach's legislative delegation. They appointed A. Bonwill Shockley, promoting her from juvenile court.

Now, however, nearly all of Virginia Beach's senators and delegates are Republicans. And that means Virginia Beach Circuit Court could get its first Republican appointee ever.

Beach Republicans flexed their muscle in 1996 to get the first Republican ever appointed by the General Assembly. It was A. Joe Canada Jr., a former Republican state senator, who took his seat in juvenile court.

As for Friedman, he will go to federal court to replace Judge Robert G. Doumar, who has taken ``senior status,'' a form of semi-retirement. That means Doumar can hear as many, or as few, cases as he likes. For now, he maintains a full schedule.

Friedman has been a Circuit Court judge for six years and a juvenile court judge for six years before that. He is the first new federal judge in Norfolk since 1993, when Raymond Jackson was appointed.

Virginia Beach: More traffic cases means one more judge in General District Court.

A committee of the state Supreme Court recommends creating one new judgeship for the Beach court. If the General Assembly agrees, the new judge probably will be hearing traffic cases, said Court Clerk Claude Rollins.

Virginia Beach now has two judges hearing traffic cases. This year, about 100,000 new traffic cases will be filed. That's roughly 2,000 a week, or about 200 new cases a day for each traffic judge.

The last judge appointed to Virginia Beach General District Court came from the city attorney's office: William Bunch in 1994.

Norfolk: Clarkson will retire from Circuit Court after 14 years on the bench. He is 67 and has been practicing law since 1958.

The last new judge appointed to Norfolk Circuit Court was Junius P. Fulton III in 1996.

Norfolk: Here, too, the Supreme Court committee has recommended a new judgeship for Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, which hears child custody disputes and juvenile criminal cases.

The city now has four juvenile-court judges. The last new judge appointed to the court was Joseph Massey in September, to replace Lester Moore, who retired.

Portsmouth: The Supreme Court committee recommends a new judge for juvenile court. The city now has only two juvenile-court judges. The last judge appointed to the court was Billy Moore, earlier this year. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Circuit Judge Jerome B. Friedman, top, will move up; Circuit Judge

John E. Clarkson is retiring. KEYWORDS: JUDGESHIPS

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