RI Family Court Divorce Lawyer Rui Alves found an article concerning the appointment of a new RI Family Court chief judge, and the views and opinions of six candidates, interesting. The full article is posted below.
6 candidates vetted in search for new R.I. Family Court chief judge
August 11, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Six Family Court judges Tuesday night shared their perceptions about strengths and weaknesses of the court that handles divorces, child custody disputes and other sensitive cases in hopes the Judicial Nominating Commission will pick them as a finalist to be the court’s next chief judge.
Over three hours, the commission interviewed Family Court judges Kathleen A. Voccola, Michael B. Forte, Laureen D’Ambra, Haiganush R. Bedrosian, Stephen J. Capineri and John E. McCann to replace Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. The commission will forward three to five finalists’ names to Governor Carcieri for his consideration following a public hearing Aug. 17.
Forte, of Johnston, told the panel he became intrigued with law and its “power to lift people up or hold people down” in the 1970s. He did a stint student teaching at the Training School and later served as its athletic director, where he saw firsthand the importance of making good decisions and getting a solid education, he said.
At 34, after serving as a state legislator, he was named to the Family Court bench in 1987. He viewed its mission as healing broken families, he said, adding that his years as a former restaurant owner and legislator gave him business and management experience that made him the best candidate for chief judge. “This is a management position.”
Forte stressed that Family Court is “not a social service agency” and that it needed to get back to its core mission. As chief judge, he would do an exhaustive review of the court’s resources and reorganize the truancy program, he said. He would like to see increased use of technology to make the court more user friendly, particularly for people who do not speak English.
Bedrosian, the first woman appointed to the court in 1980, said she observed a growing need for family and domestic abuse counseling and substance abuse treatment and said the court must work with outside agencies to address such issues.
She praised mediation as an effective way to resolve divorce and custody cases, adding that as chief judge she would aim to change the court’s tenor to be less adversarial
Bedrosian, of Warwick, said she would like to see a panel set up to provide people who represent themselves in court with legal advice, particularly as the economy lags, forcing more people to do so. “I think that’s the way we have to go.” Bedrosian has served as acting Family Court chief judge since Jeremiah’s retirement June 30.
In response to a question by commission member Robert Silva about strong and weak points within Family Court, Voccola named the juvenile drug court, the family treatment drug court and other specialty courts as strengths. She listed the slow movement of divorce and custody cases as weaknesses.
Named to the bench in 1989, she described the court as both a court and a social services agency by necessity. “There are emotional issues and many people are damaged,” she said.
She said she would conduct an administrative audit and enhance the mediation program if she led the court. She emphasized that her supervisory and administrative background as the former state liquor control administrator as well as her diligence made her well equipped for the job.
“We often see good people on their worst days,” Capineri, of East Providence, observed to the commission. As chief judge, he said he would have the judges handling truancy cases tackle mediation every other day. He would also assign two judges to a dedicated trial calendar to move cases along, he said.
Appointed Family Court judge in 2001, Capineri said he would concentrate on staff training and establish an “arbitration week” each year to help resolve cases without a trial. Slow moving cases, he said, only serve to make people angry with the court, themselves, and drains their pocketbooks. He would endeavor, he said, to facilitate people sitting down to work out cases like “human beings,” in a less caustic manner.
McCann prided himself of making every sports game his children played throughout his career and his dedication to family. His three decades practicing family law imbued him with an understanding of what is working in Family Court and what is not.
Improvements needed are more mediators and more interpreters, said McCann, who Governor Carcieri appointed to the court last October. “The system does work it’s just a question of tweaking it here and there,” he said.
He ensures the safety of domestic violence victims and their children, he said, by strict enforcement of court orders. He added that his years as a corporate officer at a law firm and his ability to deal with and relate to people made him a good fit for the job.
D’Ambra said she was inspired to pursue the law and help children doing a thesis on teenage prostitutes in college in Boston. She realized then, she said, that the main things separating her from them was her economic background and education. Success in Family Court could keep a person out of adult court later in life, she said.
D’Ambra, of Lincoln, appointed judge in 2004, said her years as legal counsel for the state Department of Children, Youth and Families and as the state’s Child Advocate made her well-qualified to lead Family Court. She listed as an accomplishment recruiting Roger Williams University School of Law students to help mediate cases.
To protect children from abuse, she said she has night and weekend checks done to ensure that victims and the perpetrators are obeying protective orders. If they are not, she removes the children from the house, she said. Additionally, she has her clerk review each party’s criminal background to determine if any domestic violence issues are at play.
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