Posted on Sat, Apr. 26, 2008

State court appointment questioned

SENATE DID NOT CONFIRM PICK FOR AOC DIRECTOR

By Brandon Ortiz

BORTIZ@HERALD-LEADER.COM

Uncertainty reigned over the state court system Friday.

Questions surfaced about the status of the court's administrative director only a day after Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert announced he will retire June 27.

And the Frankfort rumor mill ground at full speed with speculation about who will succeed Lambert as chief justice and whether he will play a role in the process.

Senate President David L. Williams, R-Burkesville, acknowledged Friday that the Senate did not confirm the appointment of Jason Nemes to director of the Administrative Office of the Courts during the recently ended session of the General Assembly. Nemes' appointment was not put to a vote.

"He did not have the support to be confirmed," Williams said in a statement released by his spokeswoman.

The consensus in the Senate was that Lambert was likely to retire soon and his successor should get to pick the AOC director, Williams said.

Nemes appears to be the first AOC director that the Senate refused to confirm.

Lambert responded this week with a one-page order reappointing Nemes as AOC director.

"After consultation with the Supreme Court the chief justice entered the attached order, which removed any previous questions as to my authority as the director of AOC," Nemes said in a statement.

But Williams pointed to a law that requires the AOC director to be appointed every four years "with the advice and consent of the Senate."

And Williams pointed to another law which states that the governor "or other appointing authority" must wait two years to reappoint someone rejected by the Senate. That law, however, is in a section of the Kentucky Revised Statutes that deals with the executive branch.

Retired Chief Justice John Palmore said he doesn't think that Lambert needs the Senate's approval to appoint Nemes. He noted that there is no such requirement in the Kentucky Constitution, which says the chief justice is the executive head of the courts and "shall appoint such administrative assistants as he deems necessary."

Palmore said the law requiring Senate approval is unconstitutional. He said the Senate is meddling with the court's internal affairs.

"I don't like the way in some instances the legislature has thrust itself into the judiciary's business," said Palmore, who retired in 1982. "They should only have one interest, that is how much they pay them."

Retired Justice James E. Keller said the constitution always controls over any statute.

"Every first-year law student knows that," Keller said.

Williams has admitted to reporters that he does not like Lambert, even though they, and Nemes, are Republicans.

Retired Northern Kentucky judge Stan Billingsley saw the snub as another act of retribution that allegedly has its roots over a Supreme Court ruling that killed a bill that would have greatly increased some legislators' pensions.

Billingsley, who writes for a blog on lawreader.com, notes that Williams has refused to extend a work program for retired judges and slashed the judiciary's budget this year.

"David Williams has done everything he can to insult the chief justice and restrict any success in the courts," Billingsley said.

Meanwhile, justices on the state's top court began jockeying to fill Lambert's shoes.

Two justices, John Minton and Wil Schroder, have confirmed that they're interested in the job. And Justice Mary Noble of Lexington has not ruled out interest.

Sometime in the next few weeks the justices will meet behind closed doors to pick a new chief justice.

They will look at who can get along with the other justices, who can manage the court's 4,000 employees and who will be an effective lobbyist to the General Assembly, Palmore said.

Alliances will be made as justices strive to get four votes on the seven-person court.

"Not everybody has the ability to preside over six strong-willed people," Palmore said. "You have to have their respect, and you must respect them."

Party affiliation or political philosophy are not always good indicators of what alliances will be formed. Palmore noted that former Chief Justice Robert Stephens, a Democrat, supported Lambert to succeed him.

The court has five Democrats and two Republicans.

Minton, Schroder and Noble are all moderates, with Minton leaning slightly more conservative on criminal cases, Billingsley said. All have shown a willingness to take stands dissenting from the majority.

"It is hard to say there is a very wide disparity between the three," Billingsley said.

All but one Kentucky chief justice, Scott E. Reed, have helped pick their replacement since the courts were reorganized by a constitutional amendment in 1976

Lambert declined interview requests Friday.