Governor John Lynch pulls one last fast one on New Hampshire voters

   Last June Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, John Broderick, announced his retirement. Sensing the Republican wave that was about to sweep over the state New Hampshire Republicans called on Governor John Lynch to delay naming a new chief justice, claiming that the people should be heard before a decision is made on John Broerick’s replacement.

  Governor Lynch claimed that this was too important of a post to be left vacant for the five months preceding the election and declared that he would name a replacement as soon as possible. As of this date he still hasn’t made a decision as to who will replace the outgoing Supreme Court justice. And according to this Union Leader editorial, it is not coincidental that while the governor claimed he could not wait until after the election he did anyway. It appears as if there is a reason behind the governor’s delaying tactic.

  Here is the editorial, reprinted in full:

Gov. John Lynch’s spokesman said last week that the governor wants to nominate a new chief justice of the state Supreme Court “as soon as possible.” He made that statement 4 1/2 months after Chief Justice John Broderick announced his retirement.

Here is what that same spokesman said in June just after Justice Broderick announced his retirement: “The Supreme Court hears a lot of important cases. It is important to fill the vacancy, and the governor will act to fill the vacancy in a timely manner.”

 But that hasn’t happened. Though the governor claimed he would act swiftly to replace the chief justice, in fact, he set in motion a process that would delay the decision until after the election. He spent months waiting for the Judicial Selection Commission — an entity he created by executive order in 2005 — to recommend candidates. Interviews come next, then a decision.

Because of this delay, no new justice will be chosen by the time this month’s oral arguments are scheduled to be heard. That’s OK. It happens when a justice resigns. But it shows that Lynch isn’t the slightest bit concerned about this vacancy affecting the court. His goal was to bump it past the election so the nomination wouldn’t cost him votes. Now he plans to choose a nominee and push him or her through the lame-duck Executive Council on the excuse that he must act quickly to ensure no disruption to the judicial system.

Lynch’s own actions show that there is no need to rush a new justice onto the court. His goal in claiming such urgency is to slip onto the court a judge whose views are more in line with those of the left-leaning council members the voters resoundingly rejected last week.

This trick is so transparent it can only further diminish Gov. Lynch’s already shrunken stature. He should salvage what remains of his tattered reputation by dropping this charade and waiting until the new council is seated.

 It looks as if New Hampshire Governor John Lynch pulled a bit of a fast one on the residents of New Hampshire.

  To sum it up: Governor Lynch publicly refused to delay naming a chief justice before the election because the post was so critical to the everyday function of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, while at the same time setting in motion a procedure to delay the nomination until after the election because he feared his choice would cost him votes in an already angry electorate. 

  But now that the election is over and Governor Lynch is the last Democrat standing in the state, he will once again claim that this position is so critical that he cannot wait until the new legislative body is sworn in. He will now use this urgency to nominate a justice that will certainly be approved by the current Executive Council with the 3-2 Democrat majority because he knows his preferred candidate will never be approved by the new Executive Council which will hold a 5-0 Republican majority.

  This was in the plan all along, it is what he considers a safety net because he will be able to get one last liberal appointment to the New Hampshire Supreme Court and he will do it in spite of the fact that the state of New Hampshire has rejected his party. The New Hampshire Union Leader summed this maneuver up best when they said that “John Lynch pulled a bit of a fast one on the residents of New Hampshire,” for that is exactly what he has done.

  Governor John Lynch may have survived this election, but he has been reduced to being a figurehead–a GINO, governor in name only–and as such he is trying to assert his power one last time before he is resigned to legislative and executive obscurity. John Lynch should do what is right and let the voice of the people be heard by waiting until the new Republican majority is sworn in before making his nomination to the Supreme Court. That would be the right thing to do.