Lexington Herald Leader Logo

Beshear's judicial picks | Lexington Herald Leader

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • All News
    • Business
    • Communities
    • Counties
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Lexington
    • Local
    • Most Wanted
    • Nation/World
    • News Photos
    • News Videos
    • Politics
    • Searchable Databases
    • State
    • Watchdog
    • Columns
    • Tom Eblen
    • All Sports
    • UK Sports
    • College Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • High School
    • Horses
    • Kentucky Speedway
    • Lexington Legends
    • Reds
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NASCAR
    • NFL
    • Sports Photos
    • Sports Videos
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Columns
    • Mark Story
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • All UK Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • Baseball
    • Basketball - Men
    • Basketball - Women
    • Recruiting
    • Ex-Cats
    • Football
    • UK Photos
    • UK Videos
    • More UK Sports
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Blog
    • Mark Story
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Restaurants
    • Stage & Dance
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Entertainment Photos
    • Entertainment Videos
    • News Blogs
    • Kentucky Weather
    • Photo Archive
    • Sports Blogs
    • John Clay's Blog
    • High School
    • UK Football
    • UK Men's Basketball
    • UK Women's Basketball
    • Lexington Legends
    • Entertainment Blogs
    • Walter Tunis on Music
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Joel Pett
    • Letters to the Editor
    • National Columnists
    • Op-Ed
    • Submit a Letter
    • All Living
    • Celebrations
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Fru-Gal: Deb Morris
    • Health & Medicine
    • Home & Garden
    • Paul Prather
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Readers' Choice
    • Kentucky Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • E-edition
    • Page Reprints
    • Photo Reprints
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Site Information
    • Advertise With Us
    • Archives
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Google+
    • Today's Circulars
    • Classifieds
    • Jobs
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Homeseller
    • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Editorials

Beshear's judicial picks

    ORDER REPRINT →

July 24, 2008 12:00 AM

Recent retirements have created 12 judicial vacancies across Kentucky. A 13th opening exists due to the death of Jefferson Circuit Judge Kathleen Montano.

All but one of the retiring judges took senior status, which means, among other things, that they could continue handling cases in their former divisions until their replacements are selected by voters in November.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

On the other hand, these vacancies gave Gov. Steve Beshear the opportunity to appoint new judges in all 13 instances. But he plans to make just six appointments, including a replacement for Montano and one for former Chief Justice Joseph Lambert.

Choosing to appoint replacements in those two instances is understandable. What is less understandable is why Beshear chose to fill just four of the 11 other vacancies by appointment. (The four are the circuit and district court vacancies in Fayette County and two district court vacancies in Jefferson County.)

By doing so, he creates the appearance of playing favorites in those four instances by giving his appointees the advantage of running as semi-incumbents this fall.

If Beshear had chosen to appoint in all 11 instances, the consistency of that approach would have reduced the appearance that politics were involved. Certainly, leaving it to voters to fill all 11 vacancies would have removed any appearance of political considerations coming into play on his part.

But by taking an inconsistent course of appointing four and leaving seven to the voters, he appears to be playing favorites.

In response to questions about Beshear's decision, the governor's office issued this statement:

”We will evaluate judicial openings on a case-by-case basis with one criterion in mind — who will be the best judge, whether that's a senior judge or through an appointment. Timing is not the issue. Rather, the concern of the governor is with being deliberative and thoughtful so as to pick the best judge. Another complicating factor is that we are experiencing a mass exodus of judges right now to retirement, along with a number of openings on judicial nominating commissions. The sheer volume of those numbers will require us to utilize both senior judges and appointments if we hope to move as expeditiously as possible. The larger issue, ultimately, is creating the best possible judicial system to serve the state of Kentucky. That is Gov. Beshear's focus. Picking the best judges possible is the cornerstone of creating such a system. That's how the governor will proceed in making such decisions.“

Gee, I'm glad they cleared that up.

Go to Kentucky.com to respond to columnist Larry Dale Keeling.

  Comments  

Videos

President Trump’s attacks on the media are unprecedented

Mayoral candidate Ronnie Bastin: Opioids, school safety are priorities

View More Video

Trending Stories

Festival with ‘A-list music’ coming to Keeneland by producers of Forecastle, Bonnaroo

February 20, 2019 10:59 AM

Curse of Saratoga strikes again? Another Chevy Chase restaurant closes in Lexington.

February 19, 2019 12:19 PM

‘Their hearts showed through their smiles.’ Funeral set for Lexington brothers killed in crash.

February 19, 2019 05:50 PM

Friendly exchange precedes fierce exchange as Kentucky survives at Missouri

February 20, 2019 12:44 AM

‘He’s oozing with potential’: Elite shooting guard expected to visit Kentucky soon

February 19, 2019 09:27 AM

Read Next

Lawmakers should say ‘no’ to corporate money grab by Kentucky American Water

Editorials

Lawmakers should say ‘no’ to corporate money grab by Kentucky American Water

By Herald-Leader editorial board

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 07:20 PM

Sen. Jared Carpenter should explain why he’s pushing a bill that would impose unnecessary increases in water and sewer rates on consumers to subsidize American Water’s acquisitions and expansion in Kentucky.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE EDITORIALS

Kentucky Senate rolls over for NRA

Editorials

Kentucky Senate rolls over for NRA

February 15, 2019 07:49 PM
Choo choo. Kentucky Senate out to railroad solar energy into monopoly control by electrical utilities

Editorials

Choo choo. Kentucky Senate out to railroad solar energy into monopoly control by electrical utilities

February 12, 2019 08:00 PM
McConnell is preaching states’ rights, sounds as if he’s scared of voters

Editorials

McConnell is preaching states’ rights, sounds as if he’s scared of voters

February 02, 2019 01:58 PM

Editorials

Yes to more sunlight on lobbying, no to private school tax credits

January 31, 2019 07:46 PM
Stivers out to turn chief justice into judge shopper for governor, legislature.

Editorials

Stivers out to turn chief justice into judge shopper for governor, legislature.

January 25, 2019 09:13 PM
Why were so many so quick to vilify a bunch of kids?

Editorials

Why were so many so quick to vilify a bunch of kids?

January 21, 2019 05:30 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Lexington Herald Leader App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Local Deals
  • Digital Solutions
  • Media Kit
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story