by Paul S. Gillies, Esq.
RUMINATIONS
The Desire to Continue in Office:
The Supporting Statement for Retention
By Section 34 of the Vermont Constitution, every judge and justice, except assistant and probate judges, at the end of each
six year term, must “give notice in the manner provided by law of a desire to continue in office.”1 The required notice has been
defined by statute to include a supporting
statement.2 These statements are extraordinary testaments of faith, admissions of
fear and failure, revelations of judicial philosophy, and reflections on the judicial experience, and they are simply fascinating.
There ought to be a web page devoted to
them, so that every attorney, client, witness, and citizen of Vermont can appreciate
the solemn, exhausting, humbling, inspiring position these men and women have
agreed to hold and the weight of responsibility we have placed on them. Listening in
on their self-evaluations feels almost invasive, but these are public statements, duly
filed away in the State Archives, available
for review and copying under law, and they
are too interesting to keep hidden in a file.
Some judges are reserved. Some are embarrassed to flout their accom \