Judicial nominations were introduced to and passed by the Senate and the House of Delegates today — Judge Bob Downer has been appointed to the 16th judicial district to replace Judge Paul Peatross, effective June 1. Downer was one of the two candidates recommended by the bar, so his appointment comes as no particular surprise.
1:45pm Update: “iknowcville” points out that Downer has simply been reappointed to the same seat in this bill, making everything that I wrote entirely wrong. Or, rather, it may turn out to be correct, but that would just be a lucky coincidence. SR43, which makes the circuit court nominations, is entirely silent on Peatross’ replacement.
01/24 Update: Bob Gibson writes that Downer’s reappointment may well indicate that he’s out of the running for Peatross’ seat. In an interview with Del. Bill Janis it becomes clear that our representatives have no interest in following the bar’s recommendations and see this appointment as political, rather than merit-based, unlike virtually everybody else in the community.
18 Responses to “Downer Named Peatross’ Replacement”