Empty Norfolk bench erodes judicial order

The people of Norfolk are paying the highest price for the gamesmanship over judges that took place at the state Capitol this year.

The 18,000 cases pouring through Norfolk Circuit Court annually represent the heaviest felony caseload in the state and the second-largest civil docket. At full staff, each judge would average about 2,000 cases a year. Because warring lawmakers left three of the nine seats in Norfolk vacant, the remaining judges are facing a crippling workload.

Even more serious are the consequences to men and women who are accused of crimes, are victims of crimes, are seeking a divorce or a just end to a civil dispute.

Even with help from substitute judges, it will become harder to give each case the attention it deserves.

It's striking that the battle in the legislature over judges has almost nothing to do with the candidates themselves. No lawmaker has questioned the integrity, judicial philosophy or qualifications of the candidates now stuck in limbo.

Instead, these men and women are merely bit actors in a melodrama starring the legislators themselves. Sen. Yvonne Miller of Norfolk feels snubbed because she has had little say in past bench selections and she is determined to fill the one vacancy in Virginia Beach. Sen. Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach feels Miller has intruded onto his turf, and he responded by blocking the three Norfolk appointments.

Lawmakers in other corners of the state have added their own grievances to the bonfire, bringing the total court vacancies in Virginia to 16, including one in Portsmouth. Many of the aggrieved legislators have some valid points, but none of them justifies the damage they have done to Virginia's court system. As it has so often in the last few years, partisanship takes priority over getting the people's business done.

Gov. Tim Kaine this summer will make interim appointments, which must be confirmed next year by the legislature. Some candidates are understandably reluctant to risk being booted after only a few months on the bench, but other qualified men and women are willing to take that chance, beckoned by the call to public service.

The personality clashes that have created this stalemate should be easier to resolve than ideological or partisan wars. Lawmakers on all sides must recognize that this isn't really about them. It's about the need, minimally, for having enough good judges for the courthouses to run properly.