Pressure is on delegate for blocking judgeships

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Lawyers and legislators in Fairfax County have stepped up pressure on Del. Tim Hugo to drop his tacit opposition to election of lawyers endorsed for Fairfax County judgeships.

Hugo, R-Fairfax, is dismissive of the 30-year procedure for vetting Fairfax County judicial candidates, with screening by the Fairfax Bar Association and interviews with the county’s legislative delegation. Hugo says the interview sessions are superficial, discussing issues that have nothing to do with judicial qualifications.

Hugo’s opposition to the endorsement process has stalled appointments and left at least one judicial vacancy unfilled. Another could be at stake in next year. A circuit court seat will be vacated at the end of the year with the recently announced retirement of Judge Jan L. Brodie.

“The situation is really starting to develop into a crisis,” said Sen. Scott A. Surovell, D-Mount Vernon.

Debate over review process

With the Fairfax system, judicial candidates are interviewed and rated by the FBA and then interviewed and voted on by the entire 25-member Fairfax delegation to the General Assembly.

In response to a recent inquiry, Hugo was critical of the legislators’ interview process.

“Too often, these Northern Virginia delegation meetings are picking the most popular candidate. In these interviews, candidates are discussing issues that have nothing to do with judicial qualifications,” Hugo said in a statement released by his office.

“In appearing before the Fairfax delegation, one candidate talked about his appearance on a delegate’s TV show, yet never mentioned his intentions to abolish bond,” Hugo said in an apparent reference to Circuit Judge David Bernhard, who has generally opposed cash bond since taking the bench in 2017.

“The selection of judges is not a popularity contest. We need to select judges based on merit,” Hugo said Oct. 24.

The bar association and participating legislators defend the system. The FBA pointed to planned improvements and extended an invitation for lawmakers to discuss other concerns.

“This process has been so successful that other Counties throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia have sought to revise and model their own efforts on that employed in Fairfax County,” wrote FBA President Christie A. Leary on Oct. 23.

Blocked appointments

As the only Republican state legislator from Fairfax County, Hugo wields the majority party’s power to block any judicial endorsement and to elect his preferred candidate. Democrats say former Del. David Albo – a Republican who could have exercised the same power – deferred to the process and participated as an equal with other members of the General Assembly delegation.

Hugo’s position in his party’s caucus has sidelined the juvenile and domestic relations court nominations of Maha-Rebekah Abejuela of the county attorney’s office and Jonathan D. Frieden of Reston. The two were recommended by the Fairfax delegation and interviewed by Assembly courts committee members Feb. 23.

But Hugo’s apparent choice, John A. Kassabian, also interviewed in the legislators’ session, has not been elected either.

Surovell said Hugo needs to get involved in the process.

“If he feels he needs more input, he ought to start meeting with the candidates before the meeting,” Surovell said, referring to the public interviews by the Assembly delegation.

Sen. J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax, enlisted other Democratic Fairfax legislators to press the Fairfax Bar Association to take a stand. In an Oct. 17 letter, he and 12 other lawmakers urged the FBA to make a public statement in support of the current judicial selection process.

In response, the FBA emphasized its support for the non-partisan process. The bar said it listened to feedback from legislators and plans to provide candidate packets to the legislators as soon as possible, with photographs of the candidates included. The bar said it hopes to allow an informal meeting opportunity with candidates, as well.

The FBA invited legislators to attend the bar’s Nov. 27 board meeting to provide input to the planning process.

“We urge the members of the delegation to fill the vacancies in our courts,” Leary said in an email. “Currently, our judiciary is understaffed. The productivity of our Courts, of vital importance to our membership, the County and its citizenry, is crippled by these unfilled vacancies.  The problem will only compound itself as additional vacancies continue to open,” she said.

VWAA adds its voice

On Oct. 30, the Virginia Women Attorneys Association said the failure to fill funded judicial vacancies in Fairfax is “particularly detrimental to the interests of justice and reflects poorly on our legislature.”

The VWAA urged that Fairfax vacancies “be promptly filled with qualified candidates on a merit basis.”

Surovell said the situation is keeping bench seats empty.

“We could be in a situation where we’re missing five judges in Fairfax if Del. Hugo doesn’t stop his opposition to the process we’ve used for the last 30 years,” Surovell said.