PROVIDENCE -- The state Supreme Court today threw out a case claiming
that Frank J. Williams relinquished his role as the high court's chief
justice by taking a position on a military review panel.
The decision, which dismisses a case brought by Providence lawyer Keven
A. McKenna, was issued today by the court's four associate justices.
The high court ruled that McKenna has no standing to bring such a claim,
adding that only the state attorney general could take such an action.
The Attorney General's Office, in fact, defended Williams against the
suit.
The justices also wrote that the section of the state Constitution that
bars dual office-holding does not apply in this case because it refers
to elected officials. Judges are now appointed on a merit basis, they
note.
McKenna had argued May 24 that the Rhode Island Constitution contains
the strongest ban against dual office-holding in the country.
He claimed that Williams forfeited the chief justice's job last year
when he joined the review panel, which was formed to hear appeals from
suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Assistant Attorney General James R. Lee, representing Williams, argued
that only the attorney general may act on behalf of the public to remove
government officials.
He said the Attorney General's Office has determined there is no need to
take such action in this case because the state Constitution does not
prevent Williams from holding both positions.
The state Supreme Court ruling quashes a Superior Court decision that
McKenna had legal standing to proceed with the suit.
The three most experienced associate justices of the Superior Court
issued that decision May 11, but the Supreme Court called a halt to the
lower court proceedings the next day, saying it had jurisdiction over
petitions challenging someone's right to hold public office.
Williams had recused himself from the case.
In their conclusion, the associate justices wrote in part, "Finally, we
wish to indicate our conviction that the Chief Justice accepted this
position with the purest of motives and out of a patriotic spirit of
long duration. We are satisfied that this limited and temporary service
in a judicial capacity associated with out nation's antiterrorism
efforts will in no way conflict with his duties as Chief Justice of the
Rhode Island Supreme Court."
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