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Two women named to Supreme Court

By   /   July 29, 2011  /   1 Comment

By Amanda Iacone

Virginia Statehouse News

 

RICHMOND — Despite months of political wrangling, in a single afternoon, legislators greatly diversified the Virginia Supreme Court by adding more women, including the first black woman to sit on the court.

The General Assembly on Friday elected two new members to the state’s highest court ending five months of political negotiations over how to make the appointments. The election of two women brings the number of female judges on the court to its highest level in history.

 

Cleo Powell and Elizabeth McClanahan will join Chief Justice Cynthia Kinser. They will serve 12-year terms beginning Aug. 1 and will fill vacancies created in February when former Chief Justice Leroy Hassell Sr. died and Justice Lawrence Koontz Jr. retired. The state’s highest court has seven judges.

 
Lawmakers also appointed two judges to the Virginia Court of Appeals and filled three Circuit Court seats.
 
“It is a historical day that we can all be proud of,” said Delegate Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, of Powell’s nomination.

 

Powell

Powell

State Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, said the Democrats supported Powell because of her experience on the Court of Appeals, but they also wanted to ensure the court reflects the diversity of the state.

 

“Reflecting the population geographically, racially —  I think gender — all of those type of things, I think it is good to have a court that really does represent all Virginians,” Barker said.

 
About 20 percent of Virginians are black and about half are women, according to 2010 census data.
 
“I’m very pleased to see the court continuing to reflect Virginia,” said former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry of the women’s elections. “I can’t tell you what it feels like to have friends on the court, not that I’ll ever argue before the court again, but to know the individuals personally apart from the legal world and to know they are in these positions of very significant responsibility.”
 

The divided Legislature finally struck a deal this week giving Republicans three of the four judicial nominations and allowing Democrats one pick. If the Legislature had adjourned without filling the vacancies, the governor would have been allowed to choose the new Supreme Court judges.

 

Barker said because Republicans control two-thirds of state government — both the House and the governor’s mansion — they negotiated more nominations.

 

Cline said the House had offered a 3-1 compromise previously but only after the governor sent his letter last week, urging the Legislature to fill the Supreme Court seats, did the Democrats choose to accept it.

 

McClanahan

McClanahan

Despite the political wrangling it took to elect McClanahan and Powell, both are traditional selections for Virginia courts, said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

 

But lawmakers commonly choose from the Court of Appeals to fill state Supreme Court vacancies. Not only do the new judges meet that qualification, but they also are well respected, Tobias said.

 
“Both of them tend to be in the middle ideologically,” Tobias said.
 
Three black men have served on the state Supreme Court, including sitting Judge Bernard Goodwyn and Hassell.
 
Powell earned her bachelor’s and law degree from University of Virginia. Prior to serving on the Court of Appeals, she served as a General District and Circuit Court judge serving Chesterfield and Colonial Heights.

 

She is a labor law expert.

 

McClanahan earned her law degree from University of Dayton and her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary. Prior to serving on the appeals court, she was the chief deputy under former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.

 

She is an expert in natural resources law focusing on natural gas, coal and oil issues.

 

“The expertise and depth for all of them was most impressive to me,” said Delegate Beverly Sherwood, R-Winchester.

 
Legislators also filled the two Court of Appeals seats vacated by McClanahan and Powell with Glen Huff, a former Virginia Beach law partner of Gov. Bob McDonnell, and Stephen McCullough, senior appellate counsel in the Virginia attorney general’s office.
 
The three Circuit Court vacancies, which were funded during the regular session this spring, were filled by Glenn Croshaw and W. Revell Lewis III on the Second Circuit, which covers Accomack, Northampton and Virginia Beach, and Richard AtLee Jr. on the Ninth Circuit, which covers Charles City, Gloucester and James City.
 
An open Circuit Court seat serving Winchester, Frederick, Harrisonburg and Rockingham was not
filled. Lawmakers from the area did not have enough time to vet candidates for the seat and send them before the House and Senate courts committees for confirmation.

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