Case, Ohler Oppose Costly Judicial Nominations
HARTFORD – State Representatives Jay Case (R-63) and Brian Ohler (R-64) opposed 30 judicial nominations that came before the House of Representatives on Monday, April 30th. Judicial nominations are initiated through the Governor’s Office and must be confirmed by the state legislature.
Rep. Case said, “We still do not have a budget and the session closes in 9 days. While many of the judges that came before the House of Representatives today have outstanding credentials to serve within the state’s Judicial Branch, the resources are not available to cover the increased costs associated with adding this many new judges. We should be discussing a budget that overcomes the $321 million deficit the state is currently running before we can create new positions that require significant resources.”
It was not made clear where additional funds will come from to cover the costs of the new appointments.
Rep. Ohler stated, “Given our state’s fragile fiscal climate, it’s rather unfortunate and misguided for the legislature to approve the Governor’s list of 30 new judicial appointees at this time. The administrator for the court system testified that there is only funding available for 17 new appointments. It’s important to note that with every new judicial appointee there are staff costs associated such as a clerk or stenographer, all of which we cannot afford to support under current circumstances. The $5 million price tag that goes along with these political appointees only adds to our projected multi-billion dollar deficits in the coming years.”
The entire membership of the House Republican caucus stood in opposition to the nomination of each new judicial appointee.
However, judges up for re-nomination drew bipartisan support because no additional funding is necessary to cover the costs for existing positions. Case and Ohler both cast their votes in support of the nomination of Richard Robinson to be named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a nomination which was passed unanimously by the membership of the House of Representatives.
###