Last week’s court decision will allow Scott, a Republican, to name a replacement for Justice John Dooley, who has announced he will retire at the end of March.
Former Democratic governor Peter Shumlin was prepared to name a replacement for Dooley before leaving office last Thursday. The court, including Dooley, ruled 5-0 last Wednesday that Shumlin could not make the pick because the vacancy did not yet exist.
Shumlin had sought and received a list of six names from the 11-member Judicial Nominating Board. The board received 17 applications for the job.
Scott didn’t discount considering nominees the board already sent. He said Monday after an unrelated press conference that he hadn’t seen the list, but believes more candidates should be considered.
“I’d like to see them open that up — back up — to take more requests from those — résumés — from those who want to put their names forward,” Scott said. “There are some that I’ve heard that maybe didn’t put their names forward because they weren’t sure of the process.”
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