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Blunt picks new high court judge

JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Matt Blunt picked Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Breckenridge to be the newest Supreme Court judge on Friday, offering a restrained endorsement that hinted at his dissatisfaction with the options before him.

The governor called her experienced, conscientious and "the best candidate of the three candidates submitted to me."

Blunt said he had accepted Breckenridge’s statement "that she will not seek to legislate from the bench." He said she would "improve the Missouri Supreme Court by replacing one of its most liberal members," former Judge Ronnie White.

Breckenridge, 53, has been an appellate judge in Kansas City since she was appointed in 1990 by then-Gov. John Ashcroft. Before that, she served eight years as an associate circuit judge in Vernon County in southwestern Missouri.

Blunt made the announcement with little advance notice in Breckenridge’s hometown of Nevada, Mo. In a telephone interview afterward, Breckenridge said her record "shows I decide cases on the basis of the law and the facts. That’s the role of a judge and that’s what I intend to do on the Supreme Court."

Her appointment gives the seven-member high court three women judges for the first time. Breckenridge will join Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith and Judge Mary Rhodes Russell.

Doreen Dodson, a former president of the Missouri Bar, said Friday that women constitute more than half the population of the state and more than half the students at law schools. "It’s a great thing that we have moved beyond a woman’s slot" on the court, she said.

But the court will lack any black members. White, the first African-American to serve on the court, resigned in July.

Thirty lawyers applied for the position, which pays $133,043 a year.

A nonpartisan screening panel nominated Breckenridge and two other Court of Appeals judges, Ronald Holliger of the Western District and Nannette Baker of the Eastern District in St. Louis. RELATED LINK
Judge Patricia Breckenridge

Baker was the lone African-American finalist. She said Friday that Breckenridge "will do a wonderful job on the Supreme Court."

Echoing that praise was Charlie Harris of Kansas City, president-elect of the Missouri Bar and the first African-American to fill the top Bar post. He said Breckenridge "is imminently qualified, and she brings diversity to the bench, being a female."

The governor’s decision culminated an unusually rancorous selection process, which included a lengthy questionnaire for the candidates from the governor, conservative billboards calling on people to "say no to an activist court" and hints from Blunt that he might spurn all three nominees.

Critics have said the process is flawed because the Appellate Judicial Commission meets in secret and is dominated by lawyers and lay members chosen by the Missouri Bar and former Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat. They say that because Blunt has appointed only one of the seven commissioners, he had limited ability to choose a judge who reflects his philosophy.

Breckenridge was widely considered to have the best shot because of her Republican background. Ashcroft appointed her to the appellate bench and former Gov. Christopher "Kit" Bond appointed her to the associate circuit bench. Both are Republicans, as is Blunt. The other two finalists had Democratic ties.

An analysis distributed by a conservative group, the Adam Smith Foundation, sought to chip away at the presumption that Breckenridge would be conservative simply because she was appointed to the appeals court by Ashcroft.

The review speculates that, given her history on the appeals court, Breckenridge would be likely to side with the current Democratic majority on the Supreme Court.

Bill Placke, a lawyer in St. Louis who has been critical of the nonpartisan court plan, lambasted Blunt on Friday, saying he "missed an opportunity to stand up to the commission that gamed the secret appointment process."

But Chip Robertson, a former Supreme Court judge and a supporter of the nonpartisan court plan, said Breckenridge has shown she will be an independent thinker and apply the law.

"She has not done anything controversial," Robertson said.

Blunt’s statement on Friday walked a tightrope and seemed to be aimed at placating both his conservative supporters and the legal establishment that supports the nonpartisan court plan.

Blunt said he "cannot be certain that any judge selected by this Appellate Judicial Commission" will follow the philosophy of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who has said judges should be like umpires and apply the rules rather than make them.

Under the nonpartisan court plan, Breckenridge will face state voters in November 2008. If she is retained, she will serve a 12-year term.

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