On February 22, a committee of six Republicans from the 16th Judicial Circuit in the Virginia General Assembly selected local attorney Cheryl V. Higgins for the Albemarle County Circuit Court judge seat. Higgins was approved by the full assembly the following day, concluding a judicial selection process that some say ought to be more open and democratic.
Charlottesville Delegate David Toscano says he approves of the selection, but wishes Democrats had had more input. “Judicial appointments should be nonpartisan and nonpolitical,” says Toscano. “I think [the process] would be improved in the future if Republicans and Democrats worked together.”
Higgins says her interview was straightforward: “I did not have a sense when I was being questioned by the committee that it was political,” she says. “The questions they asked me all made sense.”
 Albemarle County has its new judge. After a short interview, six General Assembly Republicans selected local attorney Cheryl V. Higgins for the 16th judicial circuit seat. |
Higgins is a Republican who has served as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney for the County and currently practices with Charlottesville firm St. John, Bowling and Lawrence.
Former Albemarle Circuit Judge Paul M. Peatross retired on January 31. Judges from surrounding counties have been filling in to handle the docket, not the first time Albemarle has had fill-in judges. Peatross took nine months off in 2005 after the State Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission recommended the State Supreme Court examine his conduct. (That court eventually cleared him.)
When Peatross announced his retirement, it was speculated that the controversial Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney James L. Camblos, III would seek the appointment.
But in the General Assembly, Higgins apparently won ‘em over. “I told [the committee] that the judge is essentially the boss of the courtroom, and that I could definitely be the boss, but I could do it in a way that was pleasant and polite,” Higgins says.
At 45, Higgins is not only younger than many circuit judges, she will also be the first woman to sit on the Albemarle seat.
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