Vermont Supreme Court

Last updated

Vermont Supreme Court
VermontSupremeCourtSeal.gif
Seal of the Vermont Supreme Court
Vermont Supreme Court
44°15′42″N72°34′47″W / 44.26166°N 72.57975°W / 44.26166; -72.57975
Established1782;242 years ago (1782) [1]
Location Montpelier, Vermont
Coordinates 44°15′42″N72°34′47″W / 44.26166°N 72.57975°W / 44.26166; -72.57975
Authorized by Vermont Constitution
Appeals to Supreme Court of the United States
Number of positions5
Website Official website
Chief Justice
Currently Paul L. Reiber
SinceDecember 17, 2004

The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court.

Contents

The Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices; the Court mostly hears appeals of cases that have been decided by other courts. The Supreme Court justices are appointed by the Governor of Vermont with confirmation by the Vermont Senate. When a judicial vacancy occurs, the judicial nominating board submits to the governor the names of as many persons as it deems qualified for appointment. [2] All Supreme Court justices come up for retention at the same time every six years. The next retention date is March 31, 2029. [3] The Joint Committee on Judicial Retention reviews a justice's performance during the previous term and recommends to the Vermont General Assembly whether the justice should be retained. The committee consists of four House members appointed by the Speaker of the House and four Senate members appointed by the Committee on Committees. After open debate and discussion, the General Assembly votes by secret ballot, with a majority having to vote against reappointment for a justice to be denied another term. [4]

In addition to the retention process, any Vermont judge may be removed at any time in one of two ways: (1) Judges may be impeached by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, and (2) a Judicial Conduct Board investigates complaints of judicial misconduct or disability and recommends any necessary action to the Supreme Court. [5] Members of the Judiciary of Vermont must retire at the age of 90. [6]

The current chief justice is Paul L. Reiber. Reiber was appointed Associate Justice in October 2003 by Gov. Jim Douglas and then sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Court on December 17, 2004. [7]

The Vermont Supreme Court has overall administrative control of the court system and makes administrative and procedural rules for all courts.

Building

The Vermont Supreme Court's building in Montpelier. Vermont Supreme Court Building August2014.jpg
The Vermont Supreme Court's building in Montpelier.
Interior of the courtroom VT Supreme Court.jpg
Interior of the courtroom
Detail of Vermont's coat of arms above the Court's main entrance. SCV3.png
Detail of Vermont's coat of arms above the Court's main entrance.

The Vermont Supreme Court meets in a granite Beaux Arts-style building in Montpelier, just east of the Vermont State House and immediately west of The Pavilion Office Building.

The building site was the original site of the first Vermont State Building, a three-story wooden colonial Georgian structure, built in 1808 by Sylvanus Baldwin. [8]

Composition

JusticeBornJoinedTerm endsAppointed byLaw school
Paul Reiber , Chief JusticeJune 20, 1947 (age 76)October 2003 [lower-alpha 1] 2029 Jim Douglas (R) Suffolk
Harold Eaton Jr. August 25, 1955 (age 68)October 27, 20142029 Peter Shumlin (D) Vermont
Karen Carroll February 7, 1963 (age 61)April 26, 20172029 Phil Scott (R) Vermont
William D. Cohen January 21, 1957 (age 67)December 20, 20192029 Phil Scott (R) Vermont
Nancy Waples October 7, 1960 (age 63)April 15, 20222029 Phil Scott (R) St. John's
  1. Became Chief Justice on December 17, 2004.

History

The original constitution called for a "Council of Censors" which provided oversight for the court and its membership. The Council was abolished in 1870. [9]

Prominent individuals who have served as Chief Justice include Governor and United States Senator Moses Robinson; Senator Nathaniel Chipman; Governor and Senator Isaac Tichenor; Governor and Senator Jonathan Robinson; playwright Royall Tyler; Governor Richard Skinner; Senator Dudley Chase; Governor Cornelius P. Van Ness; Senator Samuel Prentiss; Governor Charles K. Williams; Governor Stephen Royce; Congressman Luke P. Poland; Congressman Homer Royce; Senator Jonathan Ross; and U.S. District Court Judge Franklin S. Billings Jr.

Olin M. Jeffords, the father of Senator James M. Jeffords, served as Chief Justice from 1955 to 1958.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of Maryland</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Maryland

The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis. The term of the Court begins the second Monday of September. The Court is unique among American courts in that the justices wear red robes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates</span>

Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush since before his presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Supreme Court</span> One of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

The Tennessee Plan is a system used to appoint and elect appellate court judges in Tennessee. It is largely patterned after the Missouri Plan, and an earlier version in Tennessee was called the Modified Missouri Plan. At the end of every judge's eight-year term following a judicial appointment to the highest courts, retention elections are held, which have the option of whether each judge shall be retained through a yes-no option. This system applies to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermont Senate</span> Upper house of the Vermont General Assembly

The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. Senators are elected to two-year terms and there is no limit to the number of terms that a senator may serve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judicial and Bar Council</span>

The Judicial and Bar Council of the Philippines is a constitutionally-created body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition of the Supreme Court, other lower courts, and the Legal Education Board, and in the offices of the Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman and the Special Prosecutor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexico Supreme Court</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico

The New Mexico Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is established and its powers defined by Article VI of the New Mexico Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews civil and criminal decisions of New Mexico's trial courts of general jurisdiction and certain specialized legislative courts, only having original jurisdiction in a limited number of actions. It currently resides in the New Mexico Supreme Court Building in Santa Fe.

The Government of Guam (GovGuam) is a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the president is the head of state and the governor is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Tennessee</span>

The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The Judiciary of Vermont is the state court system of Vermont, charged with Vermont law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Robinson</span> American judge (born 1965)

Beth Robinson is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any federal court of appeals. Robinson served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2011 to 2021.

The Judiciary of Virginia is defined under the Constitution and law of Virginia and is composed of the Supreme Court of Virginia and subordinate courts, including the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Courts, and the General District Courts. Its administration is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Council, the Committee on District Courts, the Judicial Conferences, the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, and various other offices and officers.

Charles Jones Bethel is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. He is a former Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals. Before his judicial tenure, he served as Senator in the Georgia General Assembly from Dalton, Georgia. Bethel was first elected Senator in the 2010 general election and served Georgia's 54th district—a constituency which includes Murray and Whitfield counties, and portions of Gordon and Pickens counties as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael P. Boggs</span> American judge (born 1962)

Michael P. Boggs is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, a former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and a former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey W. Crawford</span> American judge (born 1954)

Geoffrey William Crawford is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and former associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Larsen</span> American judge (born 1968)

Joan Louise Larsen is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 2015 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britt Grant</span> American judge (born 1978)

Britt Cagle Grant is an American attorney and judge who is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Luck</span> American judge (born 1979)

Robert Joshua Luck is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and was formerly a justice of the Florida Supreme Court. A Miami native, he has previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney and as a judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and then the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly A. Thomas</span> American judge (born 1979)

Holly Aiyisha Thomas is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2018 to 2022.

References

  1. "Supreme Court | Vermont Judiciary". www.vermontjudiciary.org. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  2. "Judicial Nomination Board". April 17, 2022.
  3. "The Vermont Statutes Online: Title 4: Judiciary". Vermont General Assembly.
  4. "Judicial Retention Committee". April 17, 2022.
  5. "Removal of Justices". April 17, 2022.
  6. "Mandatory Retirement". Ballotpedia.org. Middleton, WI: Lucy Burns Institute. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  7. "Reiber appointment to Associate Justice (2003), then to Chief Justice (2004)". Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Gillies, Paul, ed. (1991). Records of the Council of Censors of the State of Vermont (PDF).