EDITORIAL: It Is Time to Name Melissa Long to the RI Supreme Court
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: It Is Time to Name Melissa Long to the RI Supreme Court
The Judicial Nominating Committee gave the highest number of votes to Superior Court Judge Melissa Long.
Long, who has served on the court since 2017, is widely respected. She is the only minority candidate forwarded to Raimondo.
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Long is the best qualified.
In 1747, Gideon Cornell was appointed to serve as first Rhode Island Chief Justice and four other justices were appointed — they were all white.
Since then, nearly 100 judges have been appointed to the court, or to serve as Chief Justice, over the past 277 years, and not a single justice of color has been appointed.
The high court is among the most segregated places in Rhode Island. It remains “whites only.”
It is time for Rhode Island to begin the slow process of transforming its court system.
Long is the perfect candidate to begin the process.
This one is simple.