Two District of Columbia Superior Court judges are hoping to take senior status after they retire, according to an announcement today from the District of Columbia Commission Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.
Judges A. Franklin Burgess Jr. and Natalia Combs Greene will retire this year and have asked for appointment as senior judges. Burgess is stepping down August 3 and Combs Greene is retiring effective September 30. The commission is reviewing their past performance and is accepting public comments through June 28.
The local body that recommends attorneys to the White House for consideration as nominees to the D.C. courts, the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, is in the process of accepting applications for Burgess' seat, but has yet to put out a formal notice about Combs Greene's seat.
Combs Greene's retirement will open a fifth seat in Superior Court. Two nominees are pending before the U.S. Senate.
The judicial disabilities and tenure commission decides which local judges are approved for senior status; it also handles judicial complaints and reviews judges up for reappointment. The seven-member commission is led by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler. Other members include 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 D.C. nonprofit Bread for the City – and two non-attorneys – Michael Fauntroy and Michael deVere Williams.
Senior judges can still hear cases, but have much more flexibility as far as their schedules and caseloads. -Zoe Tillman
Posted by: Zoe Tillman | April 03, 2013 at 11:46 AM
What does senior status do exactly, versus just merely retiring?
Posted by: Jeff | April 03, 2013 at 11:29 AM