The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Executive Department

State House Boston, MA 02133

(617) 725-4000

MITT ROMNEY

GOVERNOR

KERRY HEALEY

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 3, 2003

CONTACT:

Shawn Feddeman

(617) 725-4025

BLIND REVIEW PROCESS YIELDS ROMNEY’S FIRST JUDICIAL PICKS

New merit-based, non-partisan system for selecting judges now in place

Governor Mitt Romney today announced the first judicial nominees to make it through the newly established, first-in-the-nation blind review process that he put in place to take the politics out of court appointments.

Romney nominated Keith C. Long as Associate Justice of the Land Court, Timothy F. Sullivan as Associate Justice of the Worcester Housing Court, Liza D. Hanley as Clerk Magistrate of the Edgartown District Court and Deborah J. Patterson as Recorder of the Land Court.

“I am proud to submit the names of these outstanding individuals for consideration by the Governor’s Council,” Romney said.

He added, “For the last several months, we have successfully focused on reforming the old way of appointing judges and replaced it with a non-partisan and merit-based process. This new system – free from patronage, politics and favoritism – has yielded the highest caliber individuals for these positions.”

The nominees are:

• Keith Long of Cambridge has practiced law for nearly 30 years, currently serving as an equity partner at Boston’s Kirkpatrick and Lockhart LLP. His practice concentrates in commercial land use and real estate litigation. He has been a guest lecturer at Boston University School of Management and St. John’s College at Oxford University. Long holds a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from the University of Washington at Seattle and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
• Timothy Sullivan of Topsfield has been an attorney for over 11 years with a primary concentration in landlord-tenant law, real estate conveyancing, estate administration, land use and subdivision control. As a sole practitioner, he has represented several municipal housing authorities. He also serves on the Topsfield Housing Authority. Sullivan has a bachelor’s degree from Merrimack College and a law degree from New England School of Law.
• Liza Hanley of West Tisbury has practiced law for more than five years, focusing as a sole practitioner on civil, family, probate and criminal matters. From 1998 to 2002, she was an Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk and Middlesex Counties. In 2002, Hanley was a recipient of the Boston Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Leader Awards. She also volunteers her time with the Underground Gym in Oak Bluffs to give free access to fitness for all high school students on Martha’s Vineyard. Hanley holds a bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her law degree from Suffolk University Law School.
• Deborah Patterson of Boston has worked at the Land Court for 24 years as the Assistant Clerk Magistrate and the Deputy Assistant Clerk. In 1995, she was awarded the Land Court’s Employee Excellence Award. Patterson has a bachelor’s degree from Clark University.

In February, Romney issued an Executive Order establishing a non-partisan and merit-based process for nominating judges to safeguard the system from favoritism and politics and ensure the most qualified individuals are selected to sit on the bench.

The new process requires a blind review of judicial candidates so individuals are not identified by name, but initially are reviewed based solely on their professional qualifications. It also prohibits applicants from making political donations to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor while they are going through the review process.

In making the changes, Romney reshaped the Judicial Nominating Commission, the entity that identifies and reviews all prospective judges, to ban registered lobbyists, relatives of current elected officials and individuals who have past or current business relations with elected officials from serving on the selection panel.

The Executive Order also reestablishes the process of seeking input from the state and regional bar associations, which was limited under the last two governors. The bar committees will review the names of the final prospective nominees to determine whether applicants are highly qualified, qualified or not qualified before the Governor makes a decision on any nomination.

Richard Van Nostrand, President of the Massachusetts Bar Association, praised Romney’s appointments. He said, “This first set of nominations heralds the return of a close working relationship between the Governor’s Office and the organized bar in the area of judicial appointments. We applaud the Governor for recognizing the value that the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments brings to this process. We wholeheartedly endorse the Governor’s efforts to appoint the highest quality individuals to the bench and look forward to the successful continuation of this joint endeavor.”

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