Four senior judges in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and Superior Court have asked for reappointment, according to a notice yesterday from the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.
Court of Appeals Senior Judges Michael Farrell, Theodore Newman Jr. and William Pryor are up for review, as is Superior Court Senior Judge Linda Turner. The commission, which handles judicial evaluations for both courts, is accepting public comment on those judges through December 10.
Unlike associate judges, who serve 15-year terms, senior judges in both courts serve four-year terms, or two-year terms once they reach age 74.
Farrell was appointed to the city's highest local court in 1989. Before joining the bench, Farrell worked in the U.S. Department of Justice's appellate section and later in the appellate division of the local U.S. attorney's office; he became chief of the division in 1982. He retired and took senior status in 2008.
Newman served two four-year terms as the appeals court's chief judge shortly after he was appointed in 1976, and was then an associate judge until he took senior status in 1991. He previously served as a Superior Court judge from 1970 to 1976. Before becoming a judge, Newman worked in private practice and as an attorney in the civil rights division of the Justice Department.
Pryor was appointed to the appeals court in 1979 and succeeded Newman as chief judge of the court from 1984 to 1988. He was a Superior Court judge prior to his appointment – it was known as the D.C. Court of General Sessions when he was appointed in 1968 – and worked previously for the U.S. attorney's office and Bell Telephone Companies.
Turner was appointed to Superior Court in 1990, after serving in the local U.S. attorney's office for nine years. She retired and took senior status in 2008. She currently handles domestic violence and family cases.
The commission is led by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler and includes four local attorneys – William Lightfoot of Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot; Jones Day's Noel Francisco; Shirley Ann Higuchi of the American Psychological Association; and Jeannine Sanford of Bread for the City – and two non-attorneys – Michael Fauntroy and Michael deVere Williams.
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