Yesterday Bennington County Assistant Judge Jim Colvin reported to both judiciary committees as required by H. 470 on the effects of restructuring on county budgets. He began by saying that the November elections resulted in 12 new assistant judges- an unusually high number. Naturally, much training needs to be done to bring them all up to speed and he credited the judiciary, especially Pat Gabel, for the efforts made to so that. He did hand out an interesting report that showed that the savings predicted during the debate last year actually happened. For example, due to the transfer of county employees to the state payroll county budgets have decreased by $2 million. The counties lost about $450,000 in small claims revenue so the result will be a reduction in county taxes of about $1.5 million. All things considered, the promises made were largely fulfilled. There are now eight assistant judges hearing judicial bureau cases; five hearing uncontested divorces; and four hearing small claims. Of the twelve newly elected judges, eleven have indicated an interest in taking traffic and uncontested divorce cases.


The House yesterday selected its members to the Judicial Nominating Board. They are Representatives Tim Jerman; Joe Acinapura; and Bill Lippert. They join our members- Walter Judge; John Kellner; and Peg Flory. I believe the governor has selected his two appointments although I do not have those names yet; the Senate has yet to appoint its three members.

At last nights’ retention public hearing most of the judges under consideration heard nothing. Judges Corsones, Bent and Wesley never heard their names mentioned. The same was true for Justices Dooley, Skoglund and Johnson. Chief Justice Reiber was praised by Environmental Division Docket Clerk Kathleen Loot for his handling of the restructuring process last year. She told the committee how he presided over a “open” process where everyone was treated with respect.

Two relatives (sister and sister in law) of a criminal defendant tried for the third time and recently sentenced to a long sentence criticized Judge Michel Kupersmith for his “bias” and the way in which he handled a jury that claimed to be deadlocked. He is said to have repeatedly interrupted the defendant’s testimony and one of the witnesses complained that the judge not only told the defendant that he was in denial but apparently said “your family is in denial too”. Finally, a father who lost primary parental rights and responsibilities raised issues with the Supreme Court’s knowledge of family law, alleging they do not understand the complexities of family relationships. He urged them, and particularly, Justice Burgess to take some training in family law. He also complained about the role of the Vermont trial Judges’ Association participation in recommending trial judges to sit on the Judicial Conduct Board. Lastly a victim of a crime complained about the conduct of the proceedings he was party to, even though the presiding judge has now retired. The Chair of the committee, Sen. Alice Nitka, was very patient with letting this witness tell his story. He ended by connecting it to the present group of judges standing for retention by saying that there is a “culture in the courts” that continues and allows people such as he to be mistreated.

That pretty much sums up the news. As you know the session will be in recess next week for Town Meeting. That’s a good time for any of you that may run into senators and representatives at Town Meeting or just around town to let them know that extending the sales tax to legal services is harmful to access to justice.

Thanks for reading this blog.