Queen Yvonne

By JR Hoeft | Sunday, April 27th, 2008 | Catch-All

There are over 500,000 people in the commonwealth that live in the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach — all of them are being held hostage by the wishes of one Democratic Senator who wants to get her way on judges…Sen. Yvonne Miller.

At the beginning of this session, with the Democrats now in the majority following the 2007 election, the Virginia Beach delegation approached Sen. Dick Saslaw (D), majority leader, to see what the process would be for selecting judges to fill judicial vacancies. Saslaw assured the delegation that whatever processes were used before would continued to be used.

In Virginia Beach that meant a bipartisan citizens commission would be appointed to review all judicial applications, who would then provide non-attributable recommendations to the Virginia Beach delegation (those that live in Virginia Beach). Under this particular arrangement, several highly-qualified applicants were considered and City Attorney Les Lilley became the final choice of the commission and the delegation — a delegation which included Democratic Dels. Bouchard and Mathiesen.

It is at this point, that her highness comes into the discussion — as Lilley was not her choice. Sen. Miller has three precincts in Virginia Beach. Because of this fact, she feels she is entitled to choose the judicial appointment. This, in spite of the fact that no other city in the area has the practice of allowing an elected official that does not reside in the city a vote, much less a veto, on judicial appointments. This includes her own home city of Norfolk.

Never mind have a voice or a vote (the Fairfax model): Miller wants to be the only selector of judicial appointments in Virginia Beach.

Miller contacted senate leadership and the Virginia Beach delegation and said that it was going to be her way or the highway.

Because filling a vacancy at the Circuit Court is vital to due process, the delegation sent a counter-offer to Miller to meet with them, discuss options, and provide her a vote on the final decision as to who would be the bipartisan selection to the bench. In fact, on no less than three occasions Miller was offered a variety of unique and some might even say “sweet” deals. Miller was even sent a formal letter from a member of the Virginia Beach delegation which was ignored.

Miller outright refused any engagement on the matter. The Pilot related on Friday:

A parade of Hampton Roads lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, trooped over to Miller’s desk in the Senate on Wednesday and pleaded with her to make a deal.
“She didn’t say no,” Del. Ken Melvin [a Democrat] reported after his aborted try. “She said, ‘Hell, no.’”

Sources tell us even Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA03) tried to persuade Miller to take a deal, but to no avail.

When Sen. Ken Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) questioned Saslaw on the floor of the Senate on this matter regarding the process, Saslaw’s reaction was stunning, if not predictable: “Things change.”

Because of the intransigence of Miller, the House has blocked all of Miller’s picks for Norfolk. Which means there are four vacancies in the Hampton Roads judiciary.

Gov. Kaine is likely to make the recess appointments, but who’s going to take it? If any are Miller’s picks, they’re likely to be removed during this summer’s special session or further down the road…with no chance of being placed back on the bench.

Things, indeed, do change, Sen. Saslaw. In this case, it might be whether we the people continue to allow legislators to pick our judges.

The Pilot continued:

In many states, judges are chosen by popular election, a method fraught with partisan mischief. Other states put governors in charge. There is merit in allowing legislators, who are closer to their communities, to choose judges.

However, at least in a popular election, many voices are considered. And, with the governor, his or her party will be held accountable in the next election. In our case, we only have Queen Yvonne (a woman who never faces a primary or general election challenger); and, last I checked, we do not live in a monarchy.

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