rodgers

PROVIDENCE — Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. on Wednesday announced that he was retiring from the bench at the same time that Governor Carcieri selected Rodgers’ daughter, Kristen E. Rodgers, for a seat on the same court.

Rodgers, 67, said that his retirement will be effective Aug. 28. The justice said he expected the Senate Judiciary Committee to take up his daughter’s nomination late next week, with a vote by the full Senate on her confirmation before the legislature adjourns for the session.

Rodgers has been a judge for 35 years. His pension will be equal to his full salary, which as of July 1 will be $185,649, he said.

He said he was announcing his retirement now “to accelerate the process” so the General Assembly can name someone to fill his vacancy on the Superior Court sooner rather than later. He said it was his understanding that the legislature was planning to return for a special session in August or September to take up additional judicial nominations.

The Judicial Nominating Commission would have to advertise, hold hearings and vote on candidates to present to Carcieri to fill Rodgers’ slot on the bench.

Rodgers, who submitted his letter of retirement to Carcieri just hours before he and the governor made their simultaneous 4 p.m. announcements –– said that he already knows of at least one judge on his court who wishes to succeed him as presiding justice — Alice B. Gibney.

The presiding justice is the administrative head of the state’s major trial court which handles both civil and criminal cases, including appeals from the District Court.

Kristen Rodgers, 41, was nominated by Carcieri to replace Judge Vincent A. Ragosta, who retired May 2008. She is a partner with the Providence firm of Blish & Cavanagh and has more than 15 years experience in civil litigation. The governor, in announcing her nomination, said she “has an outstanding reputation in the legal community. I am confident she will serve with great distinction."

Kristen Rodgers, who lives in the Cowesett section of Warwick, is married to state police Trooper Scott N. Raynes and is the mother of a 3-year-old daughter. She is one of the lawyers who represents The Providence Journal on First Amendment issues. Before 1996, Rodgers practiced at Tillinghast Licht & Semenoff, Inc. She served as a law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Florence K. Murray, and, from 1998 to 2002, served as assistant town solicitor for East Greenwich.

A Toll Gate High School graduate and one of three children of Joseph and Donna Rodgers, she earned an undergraduate degree from Boston College and a law degree from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. She is an avid runner and competes in triathlons.

“I’m overjoyed and happy that the governor had such confidence in me,” said Rodgers, who is vacationing with her family on Martha’s Vineyard. “I will work hard to follow my father’s footsteps in serving the state with honor and distinction for many years to come.”

She said Carcieri had called her with the news Wednesday morning. Rodgers was selected from an older list of finalists recommended by the Judicial Nominating Commission. He passed over five people the JNC nominated for the Ragosta seat a year ago.

The law that allows Carcieri to pick from lists submitted by the commission over the past five years is due to expire June 30. Legislation to extend that law by one year passed the Senate last week and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for action.

Ragosta’s seat is one of eight openings on the state court bench, two of which now have nominations pending. Carcieri in May nominated Supreme Court Justice Paul A. Suttell as chief justice of the high court.

Joseph Rodgers is the longest-serving judge on the Superior Court and its longest-serving presiding justice. He became a judge at age 32 when then-Governor Philip W. Noel appointed him to the District Court. Two and a half years later, Noel elevated him to the Superior Court. For the last 18 years, Rodgers has been the presiding justice of that court. He was appointed his court’s top judge by former Gov. Bruce Sundlun, to succeed Anthony A. Giannini, now deceased.

Among the accomplishments that Rodgers said he was proudest of was the 1993 move that made jury service more convenient for Rhode Islanders, reducing it from two weeks to two days or one trial in Providence and Kent Counties and one day or one trial in Newport and Washington Counties. As presiding justice, Rodgers organized the nation’s first Gun Court, an initiative that not only resulted in increased prison time for offenders, but also dramatically reduced the amount of time it took gun cases to travel through the court system, from 17 months to just more than four months. The Rhode Island Gun Court became a model for similar courts across the country.

He also initiated a business calendar to track and resolve issues affecting jobs and businesses before companies sought bankruptcy or receivership protection. He created a Drug Court in 2001 for adult first-offenders so they could get substance-abuse treatment as an alternative to incarceration.

As presiding justice, Rodgers also reduced the backlog of civil cases awaiting trial from about five years in 1990 to less than two years.

kmulvane@projo.com