Legislators OK some judges, but the fight's not over yet

RICHMOND

New Chesapeake judges were appointed by the General Assembly on Wednesday, but legislators ended their 2008 session without resolving a feud over appointments to the bench in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

With lawmakers unable to reach a compromise, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will likely make interim judicial appointments to fill those posts until the 2009 legislative session.

Chesapeake defense attorney John Brown and Norfolk Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Marjorie Arrington were selected as new Circuit Court judges in Chesapeake. They were among 30 individuals appointed to Virginia courts.

Judge Robert J. Humphreys of Virginia Beach also was re-elected to the state Court of Appeals.

However, three Circuit Court appointments in Norfolk and one in Virginia Beach were not filled because of a partisan fight over judgeships that persisted throughout the two-month legislative session that concluded in March.

So contentious was the ongoing back-room debate that action on naming judges was postponed until the General Assembly reconvened Wednesday for a one-day session to vote on the state budget and a bond package.

After nearly a decade of Republican control in the General Assembly, Democrats won a two-seat majority in the Senate in the November 2007 elections and sought to exercise that power in the process of picking judges. That resulted in conflict with some GOP legislators who had grown accustomed to controlling judicial appointments.

For example, Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, insisted on the candidate she favored - General District Judge Gene Woolard - for a Virginia Beach Circuit Court opening that Republicans wanted to fill with their own nominee, City Attorney Les Lilley.

In response, some members of the GOP delegation in the House of Delegates blocked the appointment of Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Doyle and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Jerrauld Jones to Norfolk Circuit Court.

The third Norfolk vacancy was created when lawmakers didn't re-elect Judge Chuck Griffith.

State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, who has been involved in the feud, said the Democrats shouldn't be surprised that Republicans responded strongly to their attempt to install their own candidates.

Stolle said the stalemate doesn't hurt government.

"It's not like there's a breakdown in the system," Stolle said, noting that when stalemates occur, the governor has the constitutional authority to make the temporary appointments.

"We go through growing pains any time there is a change of power," he said.

Lawmakers also interviewed and qualified three candidates Wednesday for two Norfolk openings - the vacancy left by Griffith and a seat that would open if Jones was elected to a higher court. But no final action was taken on the appointments.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com