Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee
Bevin R. Alexander Jr., Chair
JCEC met and evaluated candidates for two vacancies during 2019-2020:
1. Vacancy on the Virginia Court of Appeals (Judge Rossie Alston)
The Virginia State Bar was asked by Senator John Edwards of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate of Virginia to evaluate candidates for the vacancy on the Court of Appeals of Virginia due to the appointment of Judge Rossie Alston to the federal bench. Interviews of candidates took place on Wednesday, February 19, 2020.
After conducting its usual exhaustive background investigation and interviewing the candidates, the committee made the following determinations on the candidates who were found to be qualified and highly qualified. This information was conveyed to Senator Edwards at the conclusion of the process, along with individual reports on each candidate. As of June 30, 2020, the General Assembly had not selected a candidate to replace Judge Alston.
|
|
NAME |
QUALIFIED VOTE |
HIGHLY QUALIFIED VOTE |
|
1 |
Hon. David Bernard |
12-0 |
12-0 |
|
2 |
Hon. Richard Gardiner |
12-0 |
|
|
3 |
Carlos Hopkins |
12-0 |
10-2 |
|
4 |
Hon. Wesley Marshall |
12-0 |
10-2 |
|
5 |
Hon. Stephen McCallum |
12-0 |
10-2 |
|
6 |
Hon. Stacey Moreau |
16-0 (2014 COA vote) |
16-0 (2014 COA vote) |
|
7 |
Hon. Daniel Ortiz |
12-0 |
9-3 |
|
8 |
Stuart Raphael |
11-0 (1 recusal) |
10-1 (1 recusal) |
|
9 |
Hon. Jan Roltsch-Anoll |
11-0 (1 recusal) |
|
|
10 |
Hon. Joey Showalter |
15-0 (2014 COA vote) |
14-1 (2014 COA vote) |
|
11 |
Hon. Victoria A.B. Willis |
11-0 (1 recusal) |
|
The JCEC policy, amended in 2016, Paragraph II.G. provides:
If a candidate has previously been evaluated by the Committee for the same position and received a rating of “Qualified” or “Highly Qualified,” there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the candidate merits at least the same rating. In order for the presumption to be rebutted, the Committee must be presented with information reflecting on the candidate’s qualifications that warrants a vote to a lower rating.
- Vacancy on the federal court in the Western District of Virginia (Judge Glen Conrad)
Senators Tim Kaine and John Warner asked the committee in 2020 to evaluate an additional candidate for the Western District of Virginia vacancy occasioned by Judge Conrad taking senior status. The six JCEC members who were available to conduct a background investigation, interview and evaluate Mr. Cullen rated him Highly Qualified 6-0 and Qualified 6-0.
A written report was provided to the Senators regarding Mr. Cullen.
In 2017, the committee had reported on other candidates to the Senators after undertaking its process of investigation and interviewing. Those results were as follows:
|
The Honorable Robert S. Ballou |
Qualified
Qualified |
Highly Qualified
Highly Qualified |
|
David G. Barger |
12-0 |
9-3 |
|
The Honorable David B. Carson |
11-0 |
7-4 |
|
Julia C. Dudley |
Qualified |
Highly Qualified |
|
The Honorable Gregory D. Habeeb |
8-4 |
|
|
The Honorable Robert Hurt |
12-0 |
|
|
The Honorable John C. Kilgore |
12-0 |
12-0 |
|
The Honorable Pamela M. Sargent |
10-0 |
8-2 |
Updated: Jul 16, 2020
