RI Supreme Court - 2 Vacancies Now, 5 Candidates, Continued Opposition to Lynch Prata
GoLocalProv News Team
RI Supreme Court - 2 Vacancies Now, 5 Candidates, Continued Opposition to Lynch Prata
Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Flaherty announced that he is retiring. His announcement will create the second vacancy on the high court as Justice Gilbert Indeglia retired earlier this year.
Then, later in the day, the Judicial Nominating Committee announced the five finalists for the seat being vacated by Indeglia.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSuperior Court Judge Melissa Long, Superior Court Judge Joseph Montalbano, Rhode Island State Senator Erin Lynch Prata, attorney John Roberts, and Superior Court Judge Kristin Rodgers were on the list.
The Supreme Court in Rhode Island has never had a minority member. Long is the only minority among the five finalists.
Governor Gina Raimondo will make the selection from the five finalists and then the appointee must be confirmed by both the House and the Senate. Lynch Prata's candidacy has been pushed by Raimondo. And, the Governor has repeatedly refused to commit to appointing a minority to the court.
Phil West -- the former Executive Director of good government group Common Cause Rhode Island -- came out last week to oppose the appointment of Lynch Prata’s appointment.
He joins his successor John Marion, now the executive director of Common Cause, in expressing his concerns. Marion appeared on GoLocal LIVE in June where he raised issues with the Ethics Commission voting to overrule their own staff’s recommendation which cleared the way for Lynch Prata to move forward with her candidacy for a seat on the Supreme Court.
“99 times out of 100 [the Ethics Commission] takes that legal advice from the staff and they adopt it what happened. Yesterday the staff gave a legal recommendation that Senator Lynch Prata is subject to the revolving door prohibition meaning she can't apply — it would be illegal for her to apply and they did not accept the staff's advice, as they voted it down five to two,” said Marion.
Minority leaders have called on Raimondo to appoint a minority to the high court, as Rhode Island's Supreme Court has never had a minority of the court. Raimondo is a close political ally of Lynch Prata and the two are close friends.
GOP Raise Concerns
Last week, Rhode Island Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Cienki criticized the attempt to put Lynch Prata on the high court.
“A generation ago, after various scandals involving judges who went directly from the legislature to the bench, Rhode Island created the JNC and a judicial merit selection process," said Cienki. "The JNC needs to do its job here, and keep state house politics out of the selection of judges."
"The JNC should not recommend Senator Lynch Prata to the Supreme Court. While other individuals seeking this appointment to our highest court have judicial experience and/or stellar credentials, we all know that Senator Lynch Prata’s primary qualification for the job is simply her statehouse political connections. Recommending Lynch Prata would show that the JNC is influenced more by politics, than merits, in selecting judges,” she added.