Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Paul Reiber
2004 - Present
2029
20
Paul L. Reiber is the Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice. He assumed office on December 17, 2004. His current term ends on March 31, 2029.
In Vermont, the position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. He was sworn in as chief justice on December 17, 2004.[1]
Reiber first became a member of the court through a gubernatorial appointment. He was appointed in October 2003 by Gov. James Douglas (R). To read more about judicial selection in Vermont, click here.[1][2]
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Reiber received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Reiber received his B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College in 1970 and his J.D. from Suffolk Law School in 1974.[5] Reiber entered private practice after graduating from law school. He practiced law until his appointment to the Vermont Supreme Court in 2003. He was made Chief Justice in 2004.[1]
Elections
2023
Reiber was retained by the Vermont General Assembly on March 28, 2023 for another six-year term.[6]
2017
Reiber was retained by the General Assembly on March 23, 2017, for a six-year term.[7]
2011
In 2011, the General Assembly voted to retain Reiber for another six-year term by a vote of 156-1.[2]
2003
Reiber first became a member of the Vermont Supreme Court when he was appointed in October 2003 by Gov. James Douglas (R). He was sworn in as chief justice on December 17, 2004.[1][2]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Paul
Reiber
Vermont
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through hybrid judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Reiber was appointed in 2003 by Gov. Jim Douglas (R). He donated $25 to Republican candidates.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Reiber received a campaign finance score of 0.65, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of -0.60 that justices received in Vermont.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[10]
Noteworthy cases
Insurance settlement in harassment case
Reiber wrote the opinion in a case involving two employees filing for sexual harassment. Two women attempted to sue their employer and his business, saying he had made "inappropriate sexual remarks and engaged in inappropriate and offensive touching during working hours." The employer settled with his employees for $100,000. The employer's insurance companies refused to pay the settlement, stating that "intentional sexual harassment" was not covered under his policies. The Orange County Superior Court ruled in favor of the insurance companies. That decision was reaffirmed by the Vermont Supreme Court.[11]
State supreme court judicial selection in Vermont
- See also: Judicial selection in Vermont
The five justices of the Vermont Supreme Court are selected through assisted appointment. The governor selects a nominee from a list of recommended candidates from a judicial nominating commission. The nominee must be confirmed by the Vermont Senate.[12] Once confirmed, appointees serve six-year terms. At the end of each term, judges face retention by a vote of the Vermont General Assembly.[12]
Qualifications
To serve on the Vermont Supreme Court, a judge must:
- be a state resident; and
- have practiced law as an attorney or served as a judge in the state for at least 10 years, with five years preceding their application to the commission.
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is chosen through the same assisted appointment method as the other judges on the court and serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[12]
Vacancies
When the state Senate is in session, midterm vacancies are filled by the same assisted appointment method otherwise used to select judges. If the Senate is not in session, the governor may choose to make an interim appointment until the Senate convenes and acts upon the appointment. The appointed justice will serve until the Senate consents to the appointment. If the appointment is confirmed, the appointee will serve a six-year term. If the appointment is not confirmed by the Senate, the judicial office will be vacated.[13] There is one current vacancy on the Vermont Supreme Court, out of the court's five judicial positions.
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Vermont Judiciary, "Honorable Paul L. Reiber," accessed July 28, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Vermont State Legislature, "Journal of the Joint Assembly," accessed May 14, 2016
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Paul Reiber's Biography," accessed July 28, 2021
- ↑ VTdigger, "Several Vermont judges and all Supreme Court justices get more bench time," accessed September 26, 2023
- ↑ Vermont Legislature, "Journal of the Joint Assembly," accessed June 17, 2019
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ Insurance Journal, "Vermont Supreme Court Rules Intentional Sexual Harassment Not Covered Under Liability Policies," July 12, 2004
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Vermont," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Vermont General Assembly, "Judiciary Department - § 33. Interim judicial appointments," accessed April 18, 2023
Federal courts:
Second Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Vermont • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Vermont
State courts:
Vermont Supreme Court • Vermont Superior Courts • Vermont Probate Court • Vermont Judicial Bureau
State resources:
Courts in Vermont • Vermont judicial elections • Judicial selection in Vermont