Maine Supreme Judicial Court
From Judgepedia
| Maine Supreme Judicial Court |
|---|
|
| Sitting justices |
| Leigh Ingalls Saufley Robert Clifford Donald Alexander Ellen Gorman Jon Levy Warren Silver Andrew Mead |
| Former justices |
| Maine on Judgepedia |
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in Maine's judicial system. Known as the Law Court when sitting as an appellate court, it is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Justices serve for seven year terms, with no limit on the number of terms that they may serve.
The Maine Court is one of the few state Supreme Courts in the United States authorized to issue advisory opinions. Such opinions are issued at the request of the Governor or Legislature, as set out in the Maine Constitution.
History
Until the signing of the Articles of Agreement for Separation, Maine was part of Massachusetts and therefore included in the Massachusetts court system. In 1820, Article VI, Section 1, of the new Maine Constitution established the judicial branch of government, stating, "The judicial power of the State be vested in a Supreme Judicial Court, and such other courts as the Legislature shall from time to time establish".
From the start of Statehood, the Supreme Judicial court was both a trial and an appellate court or "Law Court". The new State of Maine also adopted the same lower court structure as existed in Massachusetts, and the court system remained unchanged until 1852. The Court Reorganization Act of 1852 increased the jurisdiction of the Supreme Judicial Court to encompass virtually every type of case, increased the number of justices and authorized the justices to travel in circuits. The Probate courts were created in 1820 as county-based courts and have remained so.
The next major change in the system came in 1929, when the Legislature created the statewide Superior Court to relieve the overburdened Supreme Judicial Court. Meanwhile, the lower courts continued to operate much as they always had until 1961 when the municipal courts and the trial justices system was abolished and the new statewide District Court created. This change made Maine's court system one of the most unified in the nation, putting all courts except the Probate system under Statewide administration.
In 1978 Administrative Court was created to hear appeals from state agency administrative decisions. On March 15, 2001, the Administrative Court was abolished and its caseload and personnel was blended into the District Court system.
In the 1990s, a number of specialized divisions were created within the Maine Court system, including the Family Division of the District Court and the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program, and the Adult Drug Court Program.
Effective January 1, 2001, the Legislature further "unified" Maine's courts, and reassigned caseload between the various levels of court, making District Court the only court where divorce and family cases may be filed; providing for the direct filing of appeals to Law Court from District Court, reducing the intermediate appellate function of the Superior Court, and eliminating the previous cap of $30,000 in damages for civil suits filed in District Court.[1]
Current justices
There are seven justices on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The current Chief Justice is Leigh Ingalls Saufley. Each justice serves a seven-year term and may serve an unlimited number of such terms.
The justices of the court are appointed by the state's governor. Of the seven justices currently on the court, three were appointed by former governor Angus King, who served in office as a political independent, while four of the justices were appointed to their positions on the court by Democratic governors.
As of November 2008, the justices were:
| Name | DOB | Appointed by | Beginning of service | Current term expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Clifford | 1937 | Joseph Brennan, D | August 1986 | 2014 |
| Leigh Ingalls Saufley | 1954 | Angus King, I | October 1997 | 2011 |
| Donald Alexander | ? | Angus King, I | September 1998 | 2012 |
| Jon Levy | 1954 | Angus King, I | March 2002 | 2009 |
| Warren Silver | 1948 | John Baldacci, D | July 2005 | 2012 |
| Andrew Mead | 1952 | John Baldacci, D | April 2007 | 2014 |
| Ellen Gorman | ? | John Baldacci, D | October 2007 | 2014 |
Removal from office
Maine judges may be removed in one of two ways:
- Judges may be impeached by the house of representatives and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the senate.
- Judges may be removed upon the address by the governor of both houses of the legislature."[2]
External links
References
Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.
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