Gov. Phil Scott says he hasn鈥檛 even looked at the list of six names sent to Gov. Peter Shumlin last month as possible replacements for outgoing Supreme Court Justice John Dooley. But Scott says he wants to start the nomination process from scratch nonetheless.
It鈥檚 the latest twist in what has become a complicated quest to appoint Dooley鈥檚 replacement, and one that will reopen the search for Vermont鈥檚 newest member of the Supreme Court bench.
The state鈥檚 Judicial Nominating Board had already interviewed applicants for the position, and forwarded the names of six possible candidates to then-Gov. Shumlin last month.
Last week, however, the Vermont Supreme Court said Shumlin to appoint Dooley鈥檚 replacement. And the newly sworn-in Scott says he wants the nominating board to start the process from scratch, and send him a new slate of candidates.
鈥淭here are some that I have heard that maybe didn鈥檛 put their names forward because they weren鈥檛 sure of the process, whether it was going to be challenged, and decided not to, so I鈥檇 like to see them open that up,鈥� Scott said Monday.
With nearly four months remaining until Dooley鈥檚 term expires, on April 1, Scott said Monday that he鈥檇 like to see the nominating board 鈥渙pen that back up to take more requests 鈥� from those who want to put their names forward that might not have before.鈥�
Shumlin had in the waning hours of his final term in office. But House Minority Leader Don Turner in Supreme Court, saying the outgoing governor couldn鈥檛 fill a vacancy that wouldn鈥檛 technically exist until after months after he left office.
The Supreme Court ruled in Turner鈥檚 favor.
With the start of the new legislative biennium comes the reconstitution of the Judicial Nominating Board. And the 11-person panel that conducts the second search for Dooley鈥檚 replacement will likely have a different membership than the board that sent Shumlin a list of candidates from which to choose.
