(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says he’s interviewed all of the candidates presented to him to fill a vacancy on the Vermont Supreme Court. But Douglas says he’s not certain that he’ll pick a candidate from the Judicial Nominating Board’s list. If Douglas decides that he doesn’t want to select someone from this list, he can request that the Board send him another set of candidates.
The vacancy occurred when Justice James Morse stepped down to become commissioner of Social and Rehabilitation Services. Douglas is prohibited from disclosing any information about the candidates — including how many there are. But he did say that some current judges are on the list, as well as some candidates who are not members of the judiciary:
(Douglas) “I want to, in the case of those who might be sitting judges on the trial court, look at some of the decisions that they have written in their judicial careers to get a sense of how they approach cases, how they write, how they reason and also to review some writing samples of those who may not be judicial officers.”
(Host) Former Chief Justice Frederic Allen has temporarily rejoined the Supreme Court to insure that the court has five justices hearing all cases.