Sen. Lincoln Chafee puts the former state Supreme Court justice's name forward to replace Bruce Selya on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, March 18, 2006

BY SCOTT MacKAY and MARK ARSENAULT
Journal Staff Writers

PROVIDENCE -- Robert G. Flanders, a former Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, respected Providence trial lawyer and onetime Brown University football star, was nominated yesterday by Sen. Lincoln Chafee to a seat on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the nation's most prestigious courts.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Flanders, 56, of East Greenwich, would replace Judge Bruce Selya, who is retiring to what federal judges refer to as "senior," or part-time, status.

"Justice Flanders is a man of superb intellect, who understands the complexities of the law," Chafee said at a news conference at his Providence office. "His integrity is unquestioned, and I have great respect for his professional experience."

Chafee also praised Selya and noted that Selya had been nominated for the federal appeals court three years ago by Chafee's late father, Sen. John H. Chafee.

Said Flanders: "This is a very happy and lucky St. Patrick's Day for me."

Flanders has a long and varied résumé that includes election to the Barrington Town Council, the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and partnerships in two of the state's largest law firms, Edwards & Angell, and Hinckley Allen Synder.

After graduating from Brown University, Flanders received his law degree from Harvard Law School. He said yesterday that if confirmed to the appeals court, he would vote to uphold the Roe v. Wade abortion decision because the U.S. Supreme Court has established it as precedent.

"I'm bound to follow Supreme Court precedent," Flanders said. "Roe versus Wade is the law of the land."

The 1st Circuit, based in Boston, hears appeals from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Maine. Technically, Chafee sends the nomination of Flanders to President Bush, who has the FBI complete a backgound check and refers the nomination to the Senate for confirmation.

The post carries a lifetime salary, which is currently $171,800 a year.

Flanders grew up on Long Island, the oldest of seven children. He loved sports and books. At Chaminade, a Catholic boys' high school in Mineola, N.Y., he played quarterback on the football team and pitched for the baseball team.

In 1967, Flanders was recruited to play football at Brown. He set an Ivy League record for the longest run from scrimmage -- 99 yards -- in a game against Yale University. After college, Flanders played minor-league baseball for $500 a month in the Detroit Tigers' farm system.

He studied law at Harvard while continuing to play AA baseball. In an interview in 1996, Flanders said he hoped to get a law degree and a career in the majors, so then: "I'd be able to negotiate my own contracts. . . . But I hit .209 my first year and .238 the next, and those were pretty powerful messages I'd better find something else to do."

Flanders is married to the former Ann Walls and is the father of three daughters and the grandfather of one granddaughter. One of his daughters was in a San Fransisco hospital yesterday, expecting a boy, Flanders said.

A Republican, Flanders was once a legal counsel to former Gov. Edward D. DiPrete. Flanders has described his work for DiPrete as routine legal grunt work, such as reviewing legislation.

It was not as interesting or newsworthy as his representation of then-Governor Bruce Sundlun, in 1993. Sundlun, a Democrat, hired Flanders to work out a paternity settlement with Kara Hewes, Sundlun's out-of-wedlock child from a liaison in the early 1970s. That same year, Flanders defended Sundlun after the governor was charged with shooting raccoons at his Newport estate. The charges were eventually dismissed.

Flanders joined the state Supreme Court in 1996, having been nominated at age 46 by former Republican Gov. Lincoln Almond. Flanders developed a reputation on the court for keen insights, elegantly written decisions that often included literary references, and for frequently dissenting from the majority of the five-member panel. Frequently being the dissenter "can be very frustrating," Flanders acknowledged in 2004.

Yesterday, Chafee praised Flanders reputation as a dissenter. "That shows courage, and I admire that."

After eight years on Rhode Island's highest court, Flanders unexpectedly announced in January 2004 that he would give up his lifetime tenure and go back to private law practice at age 54. "It's really a leap into the dark," he said at the time. "I also feel somehow I'll land on my feet."

Ten years ago, as he prepared to slip into a judicial robe for the first time, Flanders predicted the kind of judge he would be: "I think I am someone who is going to be very fact-oriented and open to being persuaded. I don't come with any agenda on how to decide cases or any set methodology."

Giving up his Supreme Court post did not remove Flanders from the public spotlight. Returning to private practice, Flanders has recently been the outspoken defense lawyer for former Roger Williams Medical Center president Bob Urciuoli, who is accused of bribing former state Sen. John Celona, D-North Providence.

Flanders said he would continue to advise Urciuoli until his confirmation, but that other lawyers at Hinckley Allen and perhaps from other firms would assume a more active role in the case.

Flanders has kept a hand in the State House political swirl as a leader of a voter-initiative drive, pushed largely by Republicans, seeking to change the state Constitution to allow proposed laws and constitutional amendments on the ballot by citizen petition, without going through the General Assembly.

As a federal judge, Flanders would have to give up partisan political activity.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed issued a statement praising Flanders as "a solid pick and a worthy successor to Judge Selya. I look forward to Justice Flanders' hearings. He has a keen legal mind and has demonstrated an understanding of the law's role in society."

Yesterday, as House Speaker William Murphy, D-West Warwick, was having a St. Patrick's Day pint at the Federal Reserve restaurant, downstairs from Chafee's Westminister Street office, he saw Flanders heading up stairs to the senator's office for the news conference.

Murphy, a criminal trial lawyer who could soon be addressing Flanders as "Your Honor," quickly called Flanders to congratulate him. "I told him this is the last time I get to call you Bob."

Democrat Murphy, no friend of voter initiative, also said, "I hope this means you're finally getting off that voter-initiative committee."

smackay@projo.com / (401) 277-7321

marsenau@projo.com / (401) 277-7231