Romney pledges no flurry of lame-duck appointments

Governor Mitt Romney pledged yesterday not to make a flurry of lame-duck judicial appointments in the final days of his administration.

Romney, who made four appointments yesterday and a total of 13 judicial appointments since the September primary election, will leave at least a dozen judgeships and clerk magistrate vacancies for his successor to fill, said spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

"My plans are to have all nominees who have made it through the process on your desks next Wednesday," Romney told governor's councilors at their regular meeting yesterday. "I don't intend to bring you a lengthy list of nominees. . . . I won't overtax you with a huge slate."

Fehrnstrom described Romney's action as "fairly unprecedented."

According to Fehrnstrom, there were 16 vacancies yesterday, 10 judgeships and six clerk magistrate positions. After next week, when the governor is expected to make a handful of new appointments, there will be more than 10 vacancies remaining, he said.

"It's really unusual," said Christopher Iannella, a governor's councilor who has served during the Dukakis, Weld, Cellucci, Swift, and Romney administrations. "Generally speaking, the governor fills just about every position there is to fill. A lot of these positions have been hanging around for a while and should have been filled before now. On the other hand, he's giving the new governor an opportunity."

But Councilor Mary-Ellen Manning said Romney is making as many last-minute appointments as his predecessors. "He's making a lot at the end of his term, too," she said. "It's just a matter of what you consider the end. His end is six weeks earlier."

David Yas, editor of Lawyers Weekly, said Romney is "bucking tradition" by resisting the urge to fill all remaining judgeships.

"It is a tradition for governors to use that power to appoint judges aggressively in the waning moments of their administration," Yas said.

He added that Romney has been criticized for failing to make judicial appointments. "The legal community has consistently criticized him for not filling open seats quickly enough and being a little too painstaking in the process and being dismissive of the input of the Judicial Nominating Commission," Yaz said.