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1.17.2001 00:21
House committee OKs Williams for
chief justice post
 The full House may vote on the nomination of Superior Court Judge Frank J. Williams to Supreme Court chief justice as early as Tuesday.
By KATHERINE GREGG
Journal State House Bureau
PROVIDENCE
-- The House Judiciary Committee last night unanimously endorsed the promotion of Superior Court Judge Frank J. Williams to chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Compared to the controversies swirling around the confirmation hearings under way in Washington, last night's hour-and-a-half hearing at the State House was a virtual love fest.
Judges, lawyers and friends -- including Williams's main competitor for the top court post, Chief Family Court Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. -- praised Williams as a "fair and just man" and "a consensus-builder".
"It would be, I believe, a great aid to the future of our judicial system if he were appointed chief justice," said the current chief justice, Joseph R. Weisberger, who retires on Feb. 24.
Public defender John Hardiman described Williams as a "fair-minded" and "compassionate man . . . [with] an uncanny ability to bring about compromise." Supreme Court Judge Maureen McKenna Goldberg called him a judicial moderate who "will not seek to rewrite the law."
"He is a person that seeks agreements rather than . . . fights," said defense lawyer John Lynch.
The full House may vote on Republican Governor Almond's nomination of Williams to the $137,040-a-year post as early as Tuesday, with the Senate Judiciary Committee holding its own hearing on the nomination that same night.
Responding to questions, Williams told the lawmakers he is glad Rhode Island does not have a death penalty ("maybe it is from my war experience"), does not like mandatory sentences and wishes lawmakers would loosen the reins so judges would be freer to sentence someone to home confinement, instead of jail.
On the death penalty, Williams said he feels torn. "There are some people who, I believe, have forfeited the right to live, a terrible thing to say. I am just glad I am not the one to determine which serial killers, the killers of children, recidivists that have no respect for human life."
But, "fortunately, we don't have the death penalty in Rhode Island," he said, in response to a question from freshman Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., a lawyer and Democrat from Bristol. "I would not want to be one of the justices where we did have the death penalty to inflict," Williams said.
On mandatory sentences, he said: "I don't like it because it takes away the discretion of the judge in a particular case to fashion a sentence that fits the crime."
On the use of home confinement, he said: "What we've seen in other jurisdictions and in this one is a constriction, rather than an expansion of when home confinement is available. I think that is a big mistake."
On the complex and oft-challenged separation-of-powers issue involving the unusually broad powers the legislature has in Rhode Island, Williams said: "As all of you know, it is difficult for a justice, especially one being considered for an appellate court, to rule in advance on what a hypothetical case may be."
But that said, he described himself as "a judicial moderate, not a judicial activist," signaled his inclination "to follow established precedent" and said "we still give deference to this legislative body because you are the lawmaking branch."
Republican Rep. Scott Rabideau, of Burrillville, conveyed this question from one of his constituents about what some see as the over-reaching regulatory powers of the state's Department of Environmental Management: "Ask him what he would do about that damn DEM."
"Not to pass the buck . . . and not to say this as a panderer," Williams said, but the relief "really is with the General Assembly . . . and what powers you give them."
Williams, 60, had a much smoother ride last night than he did at his confirmation hearing at the State House in November 1995 after Almond named him to the Superior Court bench.
At that 1995 hearing, he was sharply criticized by three residents of Hopkinton, one of several communities where he served as town solicitor during his long legal career.
Among the issues raised at the time: Williams's role in writing a bill that the Hopkinton Town Council had introduced in the General Assembly in the mid-1980s to restrict the use of tape recorders at public meetings. ("He at no time encouraged us to pursue that legislation," countered David Anderson, the council president during the time in question.)
Anderson sat through last night's hearing as a "rebuttal witness," just in case any of these issues came up again. But they didn't.
Williams read from an eight-page speech in which he often mentioned his hero, Abraham Lincoln, the martyred 16th president of the United States.
He talked about his philosophy: "the judiciary and its chief justice must be prepared to exercise common sense as much, if not more, than the rigid precepts of common law. We must steer the law towards the administration of justice rather than the administration of the letter of the law to the exclusion of equity."
He cited the findings of a recent survey by the American Bar Association: "47 percent of those adults polled viewed the legal system as unfair to minorities and the poor. More than a third of those responding held the mistaken belief that in a criminal trial, it is up to the defendant to prove his innocence."
With this backdrop, he said, "the chief justice should be prepared to lead the judiciary in acknowledging the state of the public psyche . . ."
"The chief justice should make an effort to educate the media and the public respecting the performance of the courts and the delivery of services and strive for a more 'user-friendly' environment as well as improve public access, especially among minority communities."
Williams acknowledged that some unnamed judges on the District and Superior Courts are not happy with some of his suggestions, including holding night sessions, continuing legal education for judges and field trips by them "into the community."
"It is going to take lots of persuasion," Williams said. But, "that's the plan to get them into the community on a more regular basis."
Check out the credentials of chief justice nominee Frank J. Williams as outlined in his resume
:
http://projo.com/news/risupreme
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