Vermont Supreme Court

Vermont Supreme Court
Seal of the Vermont Supreme Court
Established	1841
Country	Vermont , United States
Location	Montpelier, Vermont
Authorized by	Vermont Constitution
Decisions are appealed to	Supreme Court of the United States
Number of positions	5
Website	Official website
Chief Justice
Currently	Paul L. Reiber
Since	December 17, 2004

The Vermont Supreme Court's building in Montpelier.

Interior of the courtroom

Detail of Vermont's coat of arms above the Court's main entrance.

The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court.

The Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices; the Court mostly hears appeals of cases that have been decided by other courts. The Supreme Court justices are appointed by the Governor of Vermont with confirmation by the Vermont Senate. When a judicial vacancy occurs, the judicial nominating board submits to the governor the names of as many persons as it deems qualified for appointment.^[1] All Supreme Court justices come up for retention at the same time every six years. The next retention date is March 31, 2017. The Joint Committee on Judicial Retention reviews a justice's performance during the previous term and recommends to the Vermont General Assembly whether the justice should be retained. The committee consists of four House members appointed by the Speaker of the House and four Senate members appointed by the Committee on Committees. After open debate and discussion, the General Assembly votes by secret ballot, with a majority having to vote against reappointment for a justice to be denied another term.^[2]

In addition to the retention process, any Vermont judge may be removed at any time in one of two ways: (1) Judges may be impeached by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, and (2) a Judicial Conduct Board investigates complaints of judicial misconduct or disability and recommends any necessary action to the Supreme Court.^[3]

The current chief justice is Paul L. Reiber. Reiber was appointed Associate Justice in October 2003 by Gov. Jim Douglas and then sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Court on December 17, 2004.^[4]

The Vermont Supreme Court has overall administrative control of the court system and makes administrative and procedural rules for all courts.

Vermont Supreme Court Building

The Vermont Supreme Court meets in a granite Beaux Arts style building in Montpelier just east of the Vermont State House and immediately west of the The Pavilion Office Building.

The building site was the original site of the first Vermont State Building, a three storey wooden colonial Georgian structure built in 1808 by Sylvanus Baldwin.^[5]

Membership

Main article: List of Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court

Title	Name	Joined the Court^[6]	Appointed by
Chief Justice	Paul L. Reiber	2003	Jim Douglas
Associate Justice	John Dooley	1987	Madeleine M. Kunin
Associate Justice	Marilyn Skoglund	1997	Howard Dean
Associate Justice	Beth Robinson	2011	Peter Shumlin
Associate Justice	Harold "Duke" Eaton, Jr.	2014	Peter Shumlin

History

The original constitution called for a "Council of Censors" which provided oversight for the court and its membership. The Council was abolished in 1870.^[7]

Prominent individuals who have served as Chief Justice include Governor and United States Senator Moses Robinson; Senator Nathaniel Chipman; Governor and Senator Isaac Tichenor; Governor and Senator Jonathan Robinson; playwright Royall Tyler; Governor Richard Skinner; Senator Dudley Chase; Governor Cornelius P. Van Ness; Senator Samuel Prentiss; Governor Charles K. Williams; Governor Stephen Royce; Congressman Luke P. Poland; Congressman Homer Royce; Senator Jonathan Ross; and U.S. District Court Judge Franklin S. Billings, Jr.

Olin M. Jeffords, the father of Senator James M. Jeffords, served as Chief Justice from 1955 to 1958.

Notes

External links

Highest judicial bodies in the United States

Federal court	Supreme Court of the United States 1st Cir. 2nd Cir. 3rd Cir. 4th Cir. 5th Cir. 6th Cir. 7th Cir. 8th Cir. 9th Cir. 10th Cir. 11th Cir. DC Cir. Fed. Cir. Armed Forces

State supreme courts	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma (Civil) (Criminal) Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas (Civil) (Criminal) Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Territorial supreme courts	American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands

Obsolete	Panama Canal Zone Philippine Islands

Complete list	Courts of the United States (Federal and state, all levels)

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 153631535 LCCN: n82129353 GND: 14919-6

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