Here are the five names being considered for a vacant Superior Court judge post
PROVIDENCE – The panel that helps select the state’s judges picked a slate that includes a District Court judge, a Supreme Court clerk, and a seasoned state prosecutor to send to the governor to fill a Superior Court vacancy.
The Judicial Nominating Commission voted to forward the names of Maria F. Deaton, Kas R. DeCarvalho, Assistant Attorney General Joseph J. McBurney, Clerk of Rhode Island Supreme Court Debra A. Saunders, and District Court Judge Christopher K. Smith as contenders for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl. The lifetime position earns a base salary of $170,545.
Deaton is a former state prosecutor who now works with Lynch & Pine. Deaton is bilingual and was born in Cape Verde. She is a breast cancer survivor who serves as probate judge in East Providence and holds a law degree from New England School of Law.
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DeCarvalho is a partner with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O'Gara. He formerly served on Board of Directors of the YMCA and was a past chairman of the Rhode Island Thurgood Marshall Law Society. He holds a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
McBurney is a longtime prosecutor at the state Attorney General’s office, where he handles some of the state’s most high-profile gun and violent cases. He earned his law degree from the Connecticut University School of Law.
Saunders served as deputy general counsel of the court before assuming the top clerk position. She owns The Daily Scoop ice cream shops with her husband and earned a law degree from Suffolk University Law School.
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Smith represented indigent clients with the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office before being named to the District Court bench in 2018 by then Gov. Gina Raimondo He earned a law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law as well as an advanced degree focusing on environmental and natural resources law from the University of Oregon School of Law, according to a Roger Williams law piece highlighting his nomination by Raimondo for its diversity.
Candidates who did not make the list after a public hearing and interview process before the commission include Family Court Magistrate Alberto Aponte Cardona; Angelyne E. Cooper-Bailey, legal counsel for the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training and the first lawyer of color nominated and appointed to serve as a judge on the Cranston Municipal Court; Sean M. Fontes, executive counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training since 2011; and Warwick Municipal Court Judge Kelly A. McElroy.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Superior Court: 5 contenders for a lifetime seat
