THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010474
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The creation of a new judgeship in Chesapeake has black leaders hoping the General Assembly will change the face of the city's all-white, all-male judiciary early next year.
``We're not interested in anyone but a minority since Chesapeake does not have a minority, which, in 1994, is unacceptable to the African-American community,'' said Paul Gillis, areawide chairman for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
``We're just not going to accept anybody else but an African-American.''
Chesapeake, with a 27 percent black population, is the only city in Hampton Roads that has neither a female nor black judge in any of its courts.
The state Supreme Court recommended earlier this month that the legislature create a new judgeship to cope with the increasing number of cases in the city's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Gillis and other black leaders had already been lobbying for a black appointment.
``We're not going to support elected officials who are not going to accept African-American appointments to the bench,'' Gillis said. ``If we don't . . . elected officials will find the ramifications at the polls.''
But legislators are paying attention, said state Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake, a member of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. The committee reviews the qualifications of all judicial candidates and sends them to the Senate for a final vote.
In picking a new judge, Earley said, legislators will take into consideration the fact that Chesapeake ``does not have any females presiding on the judiciary or any people of color.'' ``All of us lobbied hard to get the judgeship created, and now that it's been created, the attention will turn toward filling it with someone who will do a very competent job.''
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus are also mobilizing to ensure that a qualified black candidate is found.
``We've always been committed to the diversity of the bench,'' said Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk. ``As chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, I personally, and also the entire caucus, are committed to finding and supporting a qualified African-American attorney.''
State legislators said it was too early to identify candidates since the measure has not yet been approved by the entire General Assembly. But one possible front-runner is Chesapeake lawyer Eileen Olds, who would satisfy the need for a female and minority presence on the bench.
``Eileen Olds should be No. 1 in the listing for the judgeship,'' said March Cromuel, president of the Chesapeake branch of the NAACP. ``She is probably the senior black attorney in the city, and we feel that she is well qualified and capable.''
Last year, Olds' name surfaced after a group of black leaders met to protest the appointment of former state Del. V. Thomas Forehand to the General District Court bench. As legislative custom usually dictates, Forehand was appointed permanently after serving as the temporary replacement for Judge Stephen Comfort, who had resigned last May.
In addition to Olds, Assistant City Attorney Leonard L. Brown Jr. and Norfolk attorney S. Bernard Goodwyn have been identified as possible candidates. ILLUSTRATION: Color File photo
Lawyer Eileen Olds is a possible judicial candidate in Chesapeake.
Graphic
[Chart]
Minority and Women judges in Hampton Roads
Percent black No. Black Women
population judges judges judges
Chesapeake 27% 8 0 0
Norfolk 39% 19 4 2
Porstmouth 47% 9 2 0
Suffolk 45% 7 1 1
Va. Beach 14% 20 1 3
KEYWORDS: WOMEN JUDGE MINORITY by CNB