Senator Sheehan Lauds Governor for Court Nominee of Woman of Color; Disappointed in Nominee of Senator 

STATE HOUSE — While lauding Gov. Gina Raimondo for her pick of Superior Court Judge Melissa Long to serve on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Sen. James C. Sheehan (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown) says he is disappointed the governor has also appointed a sitting legislator to serve on the same body. 

“I had called upon Governor Raimondo to consider appointing a person of color to the Rhode Island Supreme Court to reflect the diversity of our state,” said Senator Sheehan. “To her credit, the governor did just that when she named the first person of color, Superior Court Judge Melissa Long, to the high court. However, the governor, as the chief law enforcement officer, failed to uphold state ethics laws, nicknamed the ‘revolving door’ which requires a one-year waiting period before a sitting legislator may be appointed to the Supreme Court.” 

Judge Long was nominated to replace retiring justice Francis X. Flaherty. The governor also nominated Erin Lynch Prata, who did not run for re-election to the Senate this year. 

 Senator Sheehan indicated that his request was not a reflection on Lynch Prata’s qualities or qualifications for Supreme Court, but rather an adherence to an important point of law and ethics. 

“In a time when the president of the United States is tearing down constitutional norms for political gain, it would have been refreshing if our governor would have upheld the ethics laws which were designed to curb corruption in the courts by stressing that judicial selection be based more on merit than on political connections,” he said. “Ethics in government matters more now than ever.  Unfortunately, it is far easier to tear down ethical standards than it is to defend them.  With the effective collapse of the revolving door ethics law regarding high court appointments, I fear that we have not seen the last instance of a sitting legislator being appointed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.  If history may serve as a guide, this will eventually lead us back down a path to the very corruption that led to the ‘revolving door’ laws in the first place.”