Weekly Edition

Agee confirmed, Kaine seeks input for successor

The U.S. Senate last week unanimously confirmed Virginia Supreme Court Justice G. Steven Agee to fill a seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

President Bush nominated Agee in March to fill one of five vacancies on the 15-seat court.

“Justice Agee is a man of integrity who is respected for his sound legal judgment and commitment to equal justice for all Americans,” Bush said in a statement after the confirmation on Tuesday.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine lost little time in starting the process for filling the state Supreme Court vacancy created by Agee’s departure. He has asked that those interested in the position submit their names by June 17.

Mark E. Rubin, senior advisor to Kaine, will be coordinating the search for Agee’s replacement and the material should be sent to him at the Patrick Henry Building, 1111 East Broad St., 3rd Floor, Richmond, VA, 23219 or preferably by e-mail at Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov..

The material should include a résumé, a brief writing sample, responses to the SCC judicial selection questionnaire and a statement of economic interest. Those forms are available on the governor’s Web site at www.governor.virginia.gov.

Rubin said he expects to ask statewide bar groups to recommend candidates for the position as well. He said candidates who submitted their names last year for a vacancy filled by Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn need only advise the governor of their continued interest in a Supreme Court appointment.

The selection process is complicated by a special session of the General Assembly set for June 23. The legislature could fill the seat then, but whether it will be able to do so is questionable. Although legislators filled more than 20 vacancies last month, they were unable to reach agreement on several circuit court vacancies and on a replacement for retired State Corporation Commissioner Theodore V. Morrison Jr.

When Bush nominated Agee, he asked the Senate to consider the nomination swiftly because of the court’s heavy caseloads and the duration of vacancies. After Agee’s appointment, he praised the Senate’s quick action but stressed that it hasn’t been as hasty filling other open seats.

“Unfortunately, many of my other judicial nominees have not received a timely confirmation process and their nominations have been pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee for significantly longer,” Bush said.

Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Jim Webb, D-Va., who recommended Agee for the seat last year, also praised the Senate’s prompt consideration.

Agee will fill the seat of J. Michael Luttig, who resigned in 2006.

Agee has served as a Virginia Supreme Court justice since 2003. He served as a judge on the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2001 to 2003.

The University of Virginia law school graduate served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1982 to 1994. From 1986 to 1997, he served in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve.

The nomination of another Virginian, U.S. District Judge Glen E. Conrad, for a 4th Circuit seat also is pending before the judiciary committee. He has the backing of Warner and Webb, but no hearing has been scheduled yet.

© Copyright 2008, by Virginia Lawyers Media, all rights reserved